Identifying Potentially Trafficked Persons

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.

Whether you are a member of the public or a service provider, consider the following signs to look for.

Signs of abuse and control

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

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.
• Eats apart from other members of the "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

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

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

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.

Human Trafficking in Canada © People's Law School is, except for the images, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.

In law, to formally deliver documents to a person in a manner that complies with the rules of court. Service may be ordinary (mailed or delivered to a litigant's address for service), personal (hand-delivered to a person), or substituted (performed in a way other than the rules normally require). See "address for delivery," "ordinary service," "personal service" and "substituted service."

In contract law, the expression, either orally or in writing, of a willingness to be bound by a proposed agreement, contract, or settlement. See "offer to settle."

Under the old Divorce Act, the schedule of a parent's time with their children under an order or agreement, replaced with "parenting time" and "contact" in the new Divorce Act. Access usually referred to the schedule of the parent with the least amount of time with the child. See "contact," "custody" and "parenting time."

Under the Family Law Act, a term that describes the time a person who is not a guardian of a child, including a parent who is not a guardian, has with that child. Under the Divorce Act, a term that describes the time a person who is not a married spouse has with a child. See "guardian" and "parental responsibilities."

A sum of money or an obligation owed by one person to another. A "debtor" is a person responsible for paying a debt; a "creditor" is the person to whom the debt is owed.

A person who is younger than the legal age of majority, 19 in British Columbia. See "age of majority."

In family law, the natural or adoptive father or mother of a child; may also include stepparents, depending on the circumstances and the applicable legislation; may include the donors of eggs or sperm and surrogate mothers, depending on the circumstances and the terms of any assisted reproduction agreement. See "adoptive parent," "assisted reproduction," "natural parent" and "stepparent."

(1) A person charged with the legal care of someone under a legal disability. (2) A term under the Family Law Act referring to a person, including a parent, who is responsible for the care and upbringing of a child through the exercise of parental responsibilities. See "disability," "parental responsibilities" and "parenting time."

A legal right to have and use a thing that is enforceable in court. See "possession."

(1) In real property law, a piece of property and a building situated on it, usually including the area of the property surrounding a building on that property. (2) In law generally, a premise is an assumption that founds a logical argument. See "argument" and "real property."

An agreement between two or more people, giving them obligations towards each other that can be enforced in court. A valid contract must be offered by one person and accepted by the other, and some form of payment or other thing of value must generally be exchanged between the parties to the contract.