Thank you so much, Chair.
Again, I'm sorry that I'm not there in person. I have a little bit of a cold and I thought people wouldn't really want to see me with a cold, so I decided to stay online today.
I just want to welcome everybody to the committee today.
My first question is for Maria Mourani.
In your testimony, you spoke about some of the reasons that individuals who are being trafficked—sexually exploited—might be afraid to come forward.
Part of the reason I have a little bit of a cold is that we went on this whirlwind tour, and I think my body just said that it's time to rest.
One of things you said was that part of the issue is that they misunderstand their rights and how the legislation protects them. When we were on our tour, however, we met with an organization in Halifax. They did a report and an outline of all the customers, and their breakdown showed that 50% of sex workers had customers who solicited or paid for sex who were law enforcement officers; 38.9% had customers who were professionals, such as doctors and lawyers; 27.8% had customers who were political, spiritual and cultural leaders, and 38.9% had customers who were their landlords or employers.
I share that because the very people who are supposed to be protecting women, girls and diverse-gendered individuals seem to be perpetrators themselves. Do you believe that one of the factors that prevent people coming forward is that the people they are coming forward to could be their actual customers?