Thank you. I'll go first.
My name is Constable Joy Brown. I am the Peel Regional Police lead on human trafficking in the community mobilization unit. I am also the chair of the Peel Human Trafficking Service Providers Committee, whose membership includes over 40 community partners, including EFry.
Human trafficking is a priority for our service. We have 16 specialized investigators within the vice unit who are available 24-7. They are dedicated to disrupting human trafficking and helping survivors. In 2022, we laid 127 human trafficking charges in Peel, almost doubling 2018. However, according to nCourage, Peel's anti-human trafficking services hub, approximately 75% of the survivors they work with do not report to police.
In collaboration with Timea's Cause, we recently announced that all PRP frontline and investigative officers will undergo specialized survivor-led training to better identify and stop human traffickers and, more importantly, to help victims. We are the first police agency in Canada to do this. The survivor experience remains at the forefront of all of our work. We have been working with the region of Peel and community partners through the Peel Human Trafficking Service Providers Committee on regional strategy and supports, such as nCourage, which the standing committee had an opportunity to visit last week.
Peel has made significant progress and emerged as a leader in community collaboration and in identifying and delivering appropriate services and supports to those impacted by human trafficking. We have prepared a brief for the committee's consideration that outlines the need for more investments in coordinated, preventive and educational measures, as well as further investment in an anti-human trafficking housing strategy that includes emergency beds and safe, transitional and independent housing, in coordination with the provinces and region. We know this increases a survivor's well-being and recovery, decreases the likelihood of their returning to their traffickers for basic needs, and helps investigators and Crowns with access to survivors.
Finally, we strongly recommend the establishment of a national human trafficking database in order to provide access to information on offenders and victims, since human trafficking is so transient. Currently, law enforcement agencies use different tracking systems with no standardization or data-sharing mechanisms among jurisdictions.
We have provided further information in our brief.
I will now turn it over to Jody Miller, managing director of EFry Hope and Help for Women.