Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
For six years, I have had the privilege to work in a volunteer capacity as team lead with senior leadership of York Regional Police, 360°Kids, the Women's Support Network and Victim Support Services in York region to have a purpose-built safe house and service hub for survivors of sex trafficking constructed in York region.
I am here to share with you a first-hand experience of trying to build housing for an extremely vulnerable population experiencing gender-based violence, whose needs differ from those experiencing intimate partner violence and domestic violence. They are the literally hundreds of young girls and young women who are bought and sold every day in the conduct of sex trafficking. The reality is that in York region, in the 15-month period between January 1, 2025, to the first quarter of 2026, the aforementioned agencies supported over 360 survivors. All need specialized care because of having experienced extreme trauma from physical and sexual violence, emotional manipulation causing extreme mental health issues and substance use disorders resulting from coerced use of substances for the purposes of control. In some cases, survivors are tortured; Stockholm syndrome can also be involved.
Some survivors have children with their trafficker, with children used as yet another form of control. Survivors will not leave a trafficker without a safe place to go with their children. They need security and trauma-informed care delivered 24-7 in a small, specialized, safe-house environment by experienced professionals and professionals with lived experience. Experts recommend no more than six survivors housed in one setting.
Women's gender-based violence shelters are not equipped to care for survivors whose experiences and traumas are very different and very disturbing to their clients. In York region, there are only six beds for survivors operated by 360°Kids. These are restricted to women ages 16 to 26. There are zero crisis beds and zero new beds for those over the age of 26.
Note that SafeHope Home moved from Durham region to York region this year after fire destroyed their home last summer. While they are now located in York region, this is not new capacity. The math is very simple. There is an enormous need for specialized housing. Today, I am sharing the roadblocks we have experienced in securing funding from two levels of government for survivors. Despite six years of sustained work that resulted in all the required justified groundwork being completed, and despite securing the support of MPs, provincial cabinet ministers and regional council, there is still no approved capital funding for the critically needed safe house and service hub that would support 15 resident survivors and many more through the service hub.
One of the important messages I hope is received today regarding funding is that the unique needs of this population have not been recognized by government systems and departments. Thus, there are very few dollars allocated to housing specifically for trafficking victims. Examples of current federal and provincial housing funding application scoring questions or requirements include the cost per door, a need for funding partners, having the site already purchased and readied, etc.
As discussed, survivors need to be supported in small, home-like environments, and thus if the cost per door is considered, it will be high, and the safe house will not receive approved funding.
The Build Canada Homes and former CMHC chicken-and-egg challenge of needing partners and/or readied land before funding is approved is another roadblock. Without money, land cannot be purchased. I've secured $500,000 in private pledges, but these cannot be exercised without a government commitment.
Not only are girls, young women and children further harmed without a safe place to live, agencies providing support experience challenges in staff retention due to burnout. Social workers must currently deliver support with the most critical piece missing—that is, safe, supported housing.
Human trafficking as a crime is second only to the traffic of guns and drugs. Unlike a drug or a gun, a girl or young woman can be sold many times each day, and they are. Without anywhere safe to go, a survivor is at a very high risk of returning to a trafficking situation, and in many cases this can mean a lifetime of harm or even death.
If cost justification is needed, a study done at the University of Manitoba in 2007 demonstrates that by providing appropriate, timely support to survivors there is a cost saving to society of $1.7 million per survivor. That's in 2023 dollars.
This is not a partisan issue, nor is it solely a gender issue. This is an issue of our values as humans, truly owning that the worst of humanity is being demonstrated here in our country every day, when one human takes control of another using extreme violence and psychological manipulation—and then sells that victim for their own benefit.
Thank you.