Good afternoon.
Thank you for this opportunity.
I am calling in from the traditional territories of Treaty No. 6 first nations and Métis zone 4. I have served as the executive director for CEASE, the Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation, for 25 years. I speak from the experience of a community-based organization responding to commercial sexual exploitation, sex trafficking and violence against girls and women, many of whom are indigenous.
Edmonton is known as a gateway to the north and the north is known for resource extraction industries, including oil, gas and coal. There is also a significant logging industry often adjacent to these resource extraction industries. All of these industries impact every aspect of life in first nations and Métis communities. While these communities strive to create positive socio-economic outcomes by engaging with the resource development companies, there are negative impacts.
I will focus my comments on migration from communities near resource development industries and the violence indigenous girls and women face when they leave for towns and cities.
A key vulnerability factor is transportation. There are many communities where there is no or very limited access to buses. Hitching a ride puts youth and women at risk of male drivers who may demand sexual services in exchange. When they are dropped off in a nearby town or city, they encounter more risks.
Over 70% of Edmonton's indigenous population originate from other communities. The 2016 census identifies that indigenous people comprised 5.5% of the population. The indigenous population of central Edmonton neighbourhoods, where I live, ranges from 10% to 17.5%. These neighbourhoods are often where indigenous youth and adults migrate first and where they are preyed upon by sex trade exploiters, traffickers, gangs and drug trade profiteers.
While industry work camps are able to establish codes of conduct for workers and contractors on site, there is little control when they leave the camps and travel to nearby towns and cities. This demand by males for access to female bodies fuels the sex trade, especially when women have few economic options. Where there is a demand, there are also those who see a business opportunity to traffic in human beings.
At least 44 sexually exploited women, including transgender and two-spirit persons, were murdered in the Edmonton area in the past 39 years. Many were last seen in our central Edmonton communities, and then their bodies were found outside the city. Over 52% were identified as indigenous, which shows the overrepresentation of indigenous girls and women exploited through sexual violence in the sex trade. Only 11 of these murders have been solved.
For those who survive, they endure the harsh reality of the long-term physical and mental health impact of sexual violence. When compounded with poverty, precarious housing, racism and intergenerational trauma, many indigenous girls and women live the majority of their lives in these conditions of vulnerability. This needs to change.
In conclusion, resource industries must continue to work with indigenous and Métis communities on community plans to decrease violence and sexual exploitation and increase safety and well-being for indigenous girls and women.
They can expand their codes of conduct for workers and contractors to include training on sexual violence, commercial sexual exploitation and human trafficking, such as Enbridge is doing on May 4 for all of their North American operations. They can fund community safety initiatives, employment training bursaries and financial literacy programs both on first nations and Métis communities, and in towns and cities. They can develop wellness programs for the male workforce and focus on positive masculinity, healthy relationships and healthy coping strategies to deal with the unusual workplace stresses required in the resources industry.
Thank you.