Thank you.
My name is Jodi Mosley. I am the Head of the coalition's training committee, and have been so for a number of years now. I'm also the Co-Director of a foster care agency here in Ottawa that specializes in high-risk youth from all over Ontario, as well as Co-Founder of A New Day, which is the first-ever residential treatment program here in Ottawa that is dedicated to victims of human trafficking in the NCR area. I know for a fact that I've been working with human trafficking victims for at least four years now, but putting on the new lens it's probably the last 30 years that I've worked with high-risk youth. We're just looking at it through a different lens now.
As head of the training committee, I would like to begin with a word about training. It is true that the spotlight on human trafficking has increased awareness and resulted in progress. The police now have human trafficking in their formal initial training, and we have a human trafficking team, and steps are being taken to train those employed in the aviation industry. The Canadian Federation of Medical Students, in collaboration with organizations like ours, is working to include human trafficking as part of the medical curricula. This is great news. However, we have a long way to go.
We still have law enforcement who cannot distinguish between cases of human trafficking and those of domestic violence. We have doctors and teachers who don't know how to identify human trafficking, and academic and medical institutions that don't have protocols for properly responding to the cases of human trafficking. Just two weeks ago, we were made aware of a case where a trafficker, dressed in medical scrubs, accessed his victim, who was a patient in a local hospital where supposedly security measures had been put in place. There is a clear need for investment in establishing protocols that outline step-by-step courses of action, with built-in security features, that are supplemented by ongoing training.
Building on the required elements of an effective response as outlined by Sherry, which includes training as I've just outlined, there is also a need for improvement within the criminal justice system in how it deals with human trafficking. The current legal framework that requires witness testimony, thereby revictimizing the victim, is ineffective and serves to discourage victim testimony. Traffickers need to be held accountable, prosecution needs to be a real threat, sentencing needs to be severe, and victims need to be assisted through the court process in a meaningful way, with professionals and mentors, so that their criminal justice system experience contributes—and I highlight “contributes”—to their healing journey.
Another key element of an effective response is a well-targeted information campaign that delivers information about the availability of services directly to persons in a trafficking situation. This campaign needs to be informed by grassroots front-line workers so that it is delivered in a way that does not put the victim at further risk. For example, information campaigns that splatter a hotline number all over the media and ad posters will trigger traffickers to check the phones of their victims for these numbers, and that could put the victims' safety at further risk.
Lastly, I would like to talk about licenced establishments. We know that legitimate businesses, such as strip clubs, massage parlours, spas and hotels, have also been known to be venues of human trafficking. We also know that new private member clubs are opening up, don't have a store front, and don't always have a business name prominently displayed. They exist in a clandestine way, and if you need to know of them you seek them out. The explicit descriptions of their services on the website make it obvious that sex is sold on site, yet they have managed to acquire liquor licences and ATM machines, which enhance their legitimacy as a business and hide traces of monetary transactions. Anecdotal evidence suggests that trafficked female victims are being dropped off and picked up at these clubs by their traffickers. It is unclear whether the owners or operators are aware of this. Hence, it is important for the government to conduct a review of the regulatory policies governing the establishment and operations of these types of businesses, coupled with a heightened level of enforcement.
Further, as these establishments are disproportionately linked with human trafficking, it should be mandatory for them to post information on site on available services for trafficked persons. This information should be posted in prominently visible areas, similar to advertisements on gaming sites regarding gambling addictions, photos of the consequences of smoking on cigarette packages, as well as health and safety and victims' services that happen in government buildings.
I would like to conclude by saying that while much work is needed so we have a meaningful impact on this issue, consultations such as this make us hopeful that we will get there.
Thank you.