A lot of the people we serve have real fears and issues in engaging with law enforcement. When you look at the people touched by human trafficking and the calls to the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline, the biggest group is actually the victims and survivors. That's followed by friends and family.
One of the reasons I think we're seeing this big increase in human trafficking is that we are seeing progress on awareness and education. As more people are given the tools to be able to detect what might be happening in front of them, they're reaching out for help. That's great news.
I think that we really need a community-based response to this. Many victims and survivors of trafficking are reinforced to be afraid of cops. They're told that they are doing something illegal and wrong. The shame and the stigma are intense. In many ways, that's a reality of their experiences. We need to be working with schools, community groups and parents to break through that web, because so many of the barriers to coming forward to law enforcement are so real. Many victims and survivors are also coerced or forced into conducting criminal activity for their trafficker's gain.
We need to be creating safe spaces where the individual is protected and their human rights are put at the very forefront of whatever interventions are put in place.