Identifying Potentially Trafficked Persons
From Clicklaw Wikibooks
If you are a service provider, remember that it is not your role to determine for certain that a person has been trafficked. Your responsibility is to offer support, protection, escape, recovery or a referral to other agencies.
A comprehensive list of services is available at www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/octiptraining/index.html.
Whether you are a member of the public or a service provider, consider the following signs to look for:
Signs of abuse and control[edit]
The person:
- Believes they must work against their will
- Is unable to leave their current situation
- Shows signs that their movements are being controlled
- Is subject to violence or threats of violence against themselves or loved ones
- Suffers injuries that appear to be the result of an assault
- Suffers injuries or impairments typical of certain jobs or control measures such as cigarette burns or branding tattoos
- Is distrustful of the authorities
- Is afraid of revealing their immigration status
- Does not have their passport or other travel or identity documents
- Has false identity or travel documents
- Is found somewhere likely to be used for exploiting people, for example a drug lab
- Is unfamiliar with the local language
- Does not know their home or work address
- Allows others to speak for them when addressed directly
- Is forced to work under unhealthy or unsafe conditions
- Is disciplined through punishment
- Receives little or no pay
- Works excessively long hours over long periods
- Has no access to medical care
- Has limited contact with their families or with people outside their immediate environment
- Believes they are bonded by debt
- Is in a situation of dependence
- Comes from a place known to be a source of human trafficking
Signs that a child may be trafficked[edit]
The child:
- Does not have or cannot reach a parent or guardian
- Looks intimidated and does not behave like a typical child their age
- Has no friends of their own age outside of work or time to play
- Lives with someone not related to them and not a guardian
- Does not go to school
“family” or eats only left overs
- Does work that is not suitable for children
- Travels unaccompanied or in groups with people who are not relatives
The following might also indicate that children have been trafficked:
- The presence of child-sized clothing typically worn for doing manual or sex work.
- Toys, beds and children’s clothing in inappropriate places such as brothels and factories.
- An adult claims that they have “found” an unaccompanied child.
Signs that a person is living in domestic servitude[edit]
The person:
- Lives with a family and has no private space
- Sleeps in a shared or inappropriate space
- Does not eat with the rest of the family or gets only left overs
- Is unable to leave the home at all, or may only leave in the company of a member of the household
- Is expected to be available to work up to 24 hours a day, with few or no days off
- Has been physically or sexually assaulted by her employer or members of the household or is subject to abuse or threats
Signs that a person is being sexually exploited[edit]
The person:
- Moves from one brothel to the next or works in various locations
- Is escorted whenever they go
- Has tattoos or other marks indicating “ownership” by their exploiters
- Works long hours with few if any days off
- Sleeps where they work
- Lives or travels in a group, sometimes with other women who do not speak the same language
- Has clothes typically worn for sex work
- Knows only how to say sex-related words in the local language or in the language of the client group
- Has no cash of their own and cannot show any identity documents
- Suffers from drug or alcohol addiction, or from malnutrition
- Has scars or injuries, or other signs of abuse or torture
Signs that a person is being exploited for labour[edit]
The person:
- Lives in groups in the same place where they work and leaves those premises infrequently, if at all (and only with their employer)
- Lives in degraded, unsuitable places, such as an old barn or storage shed
- Works in unhealthy or unsafe conditions and for excessively long hours
- Does not have the right clothing or protective gear for the job
- Receives little or no pay and has no labour contract or contract is overly restrictive
- Depends on their employer for work, transportation and accommodation
- Is subject to security measures preventing them from leaving the work premises
- Is disciplined through fines
- Is subjected to insults, abuse, threats or violence
| This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by People's Law School, 2014. |
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