Human Trafficking continues to be a growing crime everywhere. Human Trafficking does not necessarily cross borders. It is not always a foreign problem. Human trafficking happens in all communities across Canada.

Human Trafficking involves the relocation, movement and/or holding of victims. Human Trafficking exploits, for a profit, by using victims for sexual reasons or through forced labour. Traffickers control their victims by pressure, force, intimidation, threatening and using emotional, mental and physical manipulation in all forms.

Anyone can be a victim of Human Trafficking but some people are at a higher risk than others. Most vulnerable are young women and girls, youth and Indigenous females. Traffickers target victims that are odds with or separated from family and friends, those struggling with their identity, people desperate for work or money and survivors of previous abuse.

Signs that someone is being trafficked are new relationships, receipt of gifts and cash for no reason, sudden negative turns in longer relationships, intimate images being shared without consent, control of the victim’s phone, ID and movements and those living or working in unhealthy or unsafe conditions.

If you recognize any of these behaviors or actions, do not approach the suspect. Assess, gather information and makes notes; and if you are a victim of Human Trafficking, you can contact the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010. You can be anonymous here. You can also contact your local Crime Stoppers program at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or you can go on-line at www.p3tips.com. You are always anonymous here as well.