Journey to Safe SPACES: Ontario Native Women's Association releases report on human trafficking

When it comes to helping people escape from the sex trade, it's helpful to be able to talk the talk, said Jessica Wilson, of Fort Frances Tribal Area Health Services and part of the Ontario Native Women's Association  (ONWA) Indigenous anti-human trafficking liaison project.

She was speaking at the launch of ONWA's Journey to Safe SPACES: Indigenous Anti-Human Trafficking Engagement Report on Wednesday in Thunder Bay.

Human trafficking uses many coded slang phrases, said Wilson, and it's important people in authority — everyone from health care workers to educators — learn the language associated with the sex trade, so they can more easily identify a vulnerable person who may be caught up in it.

'The Game' isn't a sport

For example, "'the Game' obviously is the sex trade, the 'john' obviously the purchaser of sex, the servicing at 'the telly' would be at the motel, 'turned out' meaning you're new into the game — 'I turned her out' — and 'turning a trick' would be servicing someone.

"There's so many and they change but I think as teachers, parents, service providers, they need to be continually looking out for the language because if someone talks about it, why would you know that?"

Wilson knows the language because she was once trafficked herself, and has made the transition from "victim to survivor to fighter."

She said there is much more help available to people now than when she was in 'the game', but service providers still have some lessons to learn, including the value of taking care of basic needs first.

Service providers must create sense of safety

"Just coming into an agency I don't want to be thrown a form, fill this out, or do an intake. It should be more 'have you eaten today? have you slept today?'"

"As a survivor, I case every person because I'm so used to having such high vigilance, I have to be aware of what's going on all the time," so it's important to take a few extra minutes to create that sense of security to let the person know "this is a safe space."

But safety can be counterintuitive, said Wilson, noting that service providers should never "talk down" about the trafficker, because the "trauma bond is huge."

"For me, my trafficker was something I needed, when I didn't have it," she said. "If I didn't feel loved, he became that person and yes for his own agenda ... but he is also there in that time of need."

Police teach hotel staff about signs of human trafficking

Those insights are included in the ONWA report, which collected the experiences and perspectives of survivors in an effort to improve the services available to them, and improve awareness around the issue.

The Thunder Bay Police Service is also trying to boost the profile of the subject, said police Chief Sylvie Hauth, explaining officers are providing training to people in various agencies and businesses in the city.

"We've gone through the hotels, for example, and we've done what to look for, so really educating hotel staff, if you see this, if you notice certain things and really putting that information in their mind to be mindful, so that information is coming to us through the hotel staff, trying to look at it more holistically as a community."

In 2018, Thunder Bay police were able to help four people who were being trafficked, but Hauth said it remains a severely underreported crime.