Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here today for this important study. This issue is deeply concerning to me, not just as my party's status of women critic, but also as co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group to End Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. I pay close attention to all of these issues.
This is for all the witnesses. In 2012, the government launched the first national strategy and adopted another in 2019. However, the figures show that the number of human trafficking victims is still on the rise.
Women, girls and marginalized groups are disproportionately impacted by human trafficking. Today, we were reminded of the latest Statistics Canada figures on the subject, and they show that 96% of the victims are women and girls. That's a startling statistic, and I'm deeply disturbed every single time I hear it.
Even though we began the study only a little while ago, it's becoming clear that what we're hearing is just the tip of the iceberg. Getting an accurate sense of the full picture is tough. This is a very sensitive issue, so women and girls who are victims find it hard to speak up against their traffickers. Not only do victims lack trust in the process of accessing support after speaking out, but also the idea of coming forward is terrifying to them.
Given the roles and responsibilities of your respective departments, are you able to comment on that? When victims distrust the system and the institutions that deal with human trafficking, what is going wrong?
You can go first, Ms. Levman.