I don't think it's just the downtown core of Vancouver. The problem is social media, by and large. Now we have ways for predators to access younger and younger people via apps and different websites. There are a lot of young girls who are struggling with very big issues, and those predators know that and they prey on them. It's very intentional.
I was working with a 16-year-old who was living in a $2,500 a month townhouse in Kits. How is she paying for that? We don't know what is happening there.
Yes, it's getting younger. Yes, it's getting more scary, which is why we need to be focusing on the problem, which is the demand. If men weren't demanding these younger and younger girls, they would be able to live in peace.
We also need to talk about what happens to women and girls when they leave. What is the trauma they are living with after they escape from the violence, the rape, the situations they find themselves in.
I was 13. That was a pretty common age back then. I was in a group home. Most of my friends were indigenous—so, racialized. But it's not uncommon. That's what we really need to be getting out. It's not uncommon, and the core of the matter is men demanding it.