Thank you for coming today. We're really glad you're here.
I'm very pleased that trafficking in persons is a topic we're studying at the Status of Women committee. In my opinion, it's long overdue.
The significant thing about trafficking in persons is the lack of knowledge that the public, the police, and everybody in general has about it. What is happening now is a new awareness. In 2004, the Ukrainian Congress women put down a resolution at the UN saying stop the trafficking of persons.
Last week, at a homeless centre in Toronto, I was talking to a young woman. The police did not believe her when she told them she was trafficked. The pimp said she is doing this of her own volition. She had just turned eighteen.
All of these challenges are there before us as a society.
Having said this, the other element is that people who are trafficked internationally usually do not know the English or French language. They usually are threatened, and they usually don't trust police, depending on the country they come from.
You're working together with many other organizations. What do you think the most important thing is that we need to get out there? Is it a combination, maybe? It might be education or it might be more police resources. In your opinion, what do you think is very important on the street today to stop this horrific crime?
A third question is related to data gathering. Traditionally, over the past decade, money has not been put into the gathering of data on this horrific issue, although we know on the ground from NGOs, police officers, and everybody else that it's happening in more cases than we care to admit.
Could you comment on these three things?