Human trafficking victims in Peel Region will now receive crisis supports with police response

Victim Services of Peel is pairing counsellors with Peel Regional Police's human trafficking unit, marking the first time victims will be met with crisis supports at the time of police response in the region, the organization says.

The charity announced the move Thursday in Brampton as part of a new two-and-a-half-year long campaign, This Way Out, funded with $586,000 from Women and Gender Equality Canada.

Sharon Mayne Devine, the CEO of Catholic Family Services Peel-Dufferin, said at the event that the project will help survivors, particularly women, find help in getting income support, housing, mental health counselling, security plans and medical care.

"Everybody has a job to do and Peel Regional Police are really good at their job at intervening from a police perspective. But then there needs to be that connection for the human services to hand that off," Devine said.

"They have that specialized knowledge and experience to know what to pay attention to, what the risk factors are, how to help her."

The campaign comes as other organizations across Ontario mark Human Trafficking Awareness Day. In Toronto, Covenant House Toronto, the largest agency in Canada serving youth who are homeless, trafficked or at risk, launched its own campaign Let's Talk About Sex Trafficking to give parents, caregivers and teens tools to help spot and prevent sex trafficking in Canada.

"Victims are lured through coercion, trickery or manipulation and are forced to sell their bodies for someone else's financial gain," said Josie do Rego, the organization's chief development and marketing officer at their separate event Thursday. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Toronto police officers attended the event. 

"In Canada, over 90 per cent of sex trafficking victims come from Canada, and girls as young as 13 are being lured, and we're seeing more victims getting younger and younger and being lured more online."

The organization encourages parents and caregivers to stay connected with their kids, have conversations around consent and health and watch for the following behaviours, especially if combined.

• Skip school frequently.
• Leave home without permission.
• Not show interest in the extracurriculars they used to care about.
• Have new friends that they're secretive about.
• Experiment with drugs beyond recreational use.

Vanessa Jass, a lawyer, mother and survivor of sex trafficking, said she was lured into being groomed after experiencing homelessness as a teenager. She said more engagement and an intervention from her parents would have made all the difference.

"There's always someone waiting to give your kids the basic needs that you might not be able to give them at the time," she said.

"We have to talk about it, parents need to talk about it. That's my message."