Victims of Human Trafficking (4:VIII)
Human trafficking is a complex and multifaceted crime that can occur both domestically and internationally. The victims of human trafficking are deprived of their basic rights to freedom and movement. As such, human trafficking is often described as modern day slavery.
Although each human trafficking case is different, a person may be trafficked if they:
- Cannot leave their job to find another one;
- Do not have control over their wages or money;
- Work but do not get paid normal wages;
- Have no choice about hours worked or other working conditions;
- Work long hours, live at a work site, or is picked up and driven to and from work;
- Shows signs of physical abuse or injury;
- Are accompanied everywhere by someone who speaks for him or her;
- Appear to be fearful or and or under the control of another person;
- Owe money to their employer or another person who they feel honour bound to pay;
- Are unfamiliar with the neighbourhood where they live or work;
- Are not working in the job originally promised to them;
- Are travelling with minimal or inappropriate luggage/belongings;
- Lack Identification, passport or other travel documents;
- Are forced to provide sexual services in a strip club, massage parlour, brothel or other location.
The following publication from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime provides a comprehensive list of indicators that a person may be trafficked:
http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/HT_indicators_E_LOWRES.pdf
Despite the severity of the offence, human trafficking convictions are rare. This may be in part due to the complexity and subtleties of trafficking operations as well as reluctance on the part of victims to come forward. Victims may not come forward because they may:
- Fear for their own lives;
- Not understand that they are victims of human trafficking;
- Be taught to distrust outsiders, especially law enforcement and other government authorities; Foreign victims may be afraid they will be detained and deported, or they may limited language skills;
- Be completely unaware of their rights or may have been intentionally misinformed about their rights in Canada;
- Fear for their families and/or loved ones;
- Feel threatened that traffickers will harm their families if they report their situation to, or cooperate with, law enforcement.
In 2007, B.C. established the Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons (“OCTIP”). Since 2011, OCTIP has been part of the Community Safety and Crime Prevention Branch, Ministry of Justice. OCTIP is part of the Victim Services and Crime Prevention Division of the Ministry of Justice located in Vancouver, BC. The OCTIP develops and coordinates strategies to address human trafficking within the province. The OCTIP takes a human rights approach that focuses on the rights and needs of trafficked persons. This approach gives back control to the trafficked person by offering information, referrals, support and assistance but allows the trafficked person to make decisions and choices for themselves. OCTIP also works with and provides support to law enforcement and Crown Counsel with the prosecution of human trafficking cases. See the Resources section below for more information on the OCTIP and their contact information.
A. Governing Legislation and Resources
1. Legislation
Human trafficking is defined in the UN Trafficking in Persons Protocol as “the act of recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons ... by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person ... for the purpose ofexploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum:
- the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation,
- forced labour or services,
- slavery or practices similar to slavery,
- servitude,
- or the removal of organs.”
Human trafficking is an offence under both the Criminal Code (ss 279.01-279.04), and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act [IRPA](Part 3). Sections 279.01-279.04 of the Criminal Code make it an offence to:
- Recruit, transport, transfer, receive, hold or hide a person, or exercise control, direction or influence over an adult or a minor’s movement for the purpose of exploiting or facilitating the exploitation of that person.
- Benefit materially from human trafficking.
- Withhold or destroy a person’ s travel or identification documents, such as a passport or visa, for the purpose of trafficking, or helping to traffic, that person.
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