Gender 305 Gender and International Human Rights

Disclaimer 0:01
In this episode, we will be discussing topics containing colonial violence, human trafficking, gender based violence and abuse against women and girls. These are extremely sensitive topics. If these subjects are overwhelming, this podcast might not be suitable for you. Take care and recognize when these topics can be upsetting to your well being,

Introduction 0:24
The glaring and deeply troubling reality of sex and human trafficking in Canada continues to cast a long shadow of despair over the lives of countless individuals. This topic delves into disconcerting narrative of Indigenous women's vulnerability to sex and human trafficking in Canada, and will examine the factors that play into this, as well as discussing an urgent need for comprehensive solutions and support systems to address this pressing issue in Canada today. We have chosen to explore human sex trafficking as it is one of the most insidious forms of exploitation and human rights violation as one loses control of their bodily autonomy and becomes a commodity to be abused. We explore how systems of power work to make a climate allowing for these human rights violations to fester.

Ellie Tommila 1:13
My name is Ellie, and I'm a third year social work student, and I'm originally from Seattle.

Imee Fernandez 1:19
My name is Imee. I am born and raised in Victoria BC, and I'm majoring in linguistics at UVic.

Isabella Gray 1:26
My name is Isabella, and I am a fourth year Gender Studies student. We bring this podcast to you from the location of Victoria, British Columbia, located on the unceded territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən, Songhees, Esquimalt and Wozniak First Nations. We ourselves are settlers on this land, and through this podcast, we hope to bring forth the ongoing conditions of colonialism that perpetuate violence against indigenous people on their own unceded territory. The objective of discussing human trafficking and the context surrounding it, the objective of this podcast is to bring awareness to people regarding the reality of human sex trafficking within Canada. Many people view human trafficking as an issue that does not pertain to Canada. They view it as an unrealistic within a Western country. Western colonial violence is the underlying foundation leading to the landscape of human trafficking and violence against marginalized women, a colonial culture of dominant sexist hetero patriarchy allows for women to be objectified and abused. McKinnon's 2006 "Are Women Human" highlights this idea of human rights violations against women as constantly looked over due to patriarchal, sexist society, women are viewed as subhuman. The reason for the suppression of human trafficking issues within Canada is because the majority of victims are those who are viewed as deserving of less care. People who are lured into human trafficking are preyed upon due to their marginal position. This learning and grooming will be explored further. This podcast seeks to underline the ongoing conditions of colonialism that lead Indigenous women and girls into vulnerable positions. Colonialism has contributed to poverty, trauma, addiction and violence within indigenous communities. These realities create faults and cracks in community ties that allow for people to slip through and be further violated. This podcast highlights the conditions leading to human trafficking, the challenges within measuring and persecuting human trafficking, and outlines the importance of education in reducing human trafficking.

Ellie Tommila 3:37
In this section, we will be defining some important terms that is crucial to understanding our podcast. First is a word called "femicide". It is an important term that we learn from class and from a documentary we watch called Disappearing Daughters. It is crucial to define when discussing this topic as it specifically addresses the killing of women and girls because of their gender. It is defined as violence against women because they are women. Another important term we discuss a lot in class that is crucial to our podcast is the term intersectionality. Is defined from the Oxford Dictionary as the interconnected nature of social categorization, such as race, class and gender as they apply it to a given individual or group regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent system of discrimination or disadvantage. This makes minority groups vulnerable to human trafficking as it targets this demographic. We also wanted to clarify on an international scope, human trafficking in Canada share similarities with various countries worldwide, particularly those facing comparable socio-economic challenges and systematic issues. Countries such as Australia and the United States have comparable challenges in terms of exploration and vulnerability. They share similarities, particularly concerning the exploitation of indigenous populations which face historical trauma and systematic discrimination. We also wanted to note in this podcast, we will be focusing on Indigenous women and girls in Canada, and we use the term women to meet anyone who identifies with that label. Another important thing to coin is human trafficking is an offense under the Criminal Code of Canada and the immigration of refugee protection act. In this next section, we will be talking about our data. And according to Statistics Canada, nearly half of the incidents reported, which is 57% involved human trafficking offenses alone, while 43% involved at least one other type of violation, most often related to the sex trade. Over 3000 incidents of human trafficking have been reported to police services in Canada, between 2011 and 2021 which doesn't count the under reported crimes. We decided to circle in our research on Indigenous women, because after researching on this topic, it was found that in 2023 Statistics Canada coined that 40% of survivors of sex trafficking identified as Indigenous women. This alarming statistic underscores the disproportionate impact of sex trafficking in these specific communities. The high percentage of Indigenous women among survivors, emphasize the urgent need for targeted intervention and support mechanisms tailored to address the specific challenges faced by these communities. These statistics highlight the intersectionality of this issue, emphasizing the interconnectedness of gender, ethnicity and socio economic factors in producing vulnerability.

Isabella Gray 6:42
We are now going to look at a personal story, and there is a trigger warning of sexual assault, abuse and death. This story is translated from a 2019, CBC news story, and contains sensitive, disturbing material around subjects of sexual assault and death. To bring a real life story into this podcast I have chosen to explore the survival story of Bridget Perrier. Bridget Perrier is an indigenous woman in Canada who tells her story of human sex trafficking within Canada and how she got wrapped up in the cycle of abuse and neglect. Perrier explains that when she was taken from her Anishinaabe mother at five weeks old in 1976 and placed into a white adoptive family. Perrier and her mother were caught in the 60s scoop, a time from the 50s to 80s, where indigenous children were ripped from their family roots and placed into non Indigenous homes. The 60s scoop was a way to annihilate indigenous culture through the use of separating children from their familial ties, language and a wider community. The 60s scoop has impacted indigenous families in Canada for generations, and Perrier story starts within the vulnerable position the 60s scoop placed her into. Within her adoptive family she was molested by a family friend at the age of eight. Psychological impacts behind this action led Bridget to begin acting out. Her adoptive family decided they no longer wanted her. This led to Bridget being put into a group home where she became exposed to people preying on the vulnerable. Bridget was introduced into sex work by older girls in her group home who brought her out when she was 12 and told her how she could make some money. She began running away from the home with these girls, and often people were not looking for them to come back. Young girls within the foster system are often targets of human sex trafficking, as they do not have strong figures looking out for them. Many indigenous girls are failed by the Canadian government as eras like the 60s scoop robbed them of a supportive community. Most stories of human trafficking start by preying on economically impoverished communities. Bridget was targeted due to her marginal position at the age of 12, a woman who ran a brothel in Thunder Bay, Ontario started grooming Bridget. This woman recognized that Bridget had no support system and could be enticed through material objects and manipulative emotional support. Bridget shares stories of abuse and rape that she endured through the years working for this woman out of this brothel. Bridget also met another pimp while traveling between brothels. This man groomed her and acted as her boyfriend at times, while exploiting and abusing her, using violence to keep her obedient. He made her stand on corners of streets and transported her between hotels for his material gain, through her exploitative sex work. Throughout her entrapment into the cycle of violence and exploitation. Bridget had a child when she was 16. The death of her son at the age of five due to a condition he contracted from Bridget's sex work was the final push to motivate her to escape the violence. Bridget has since become an advocate for survivors of human sex trafficking, and has co-founded the anti sex-trafficking lobbying group Sex Trade 101. The article goes on to draw connections between human sex trafficking and murdered and missing Indigenous women. And looks to the inquiry of murdered and missing Indigenous women and the calls for action and is quoted. Five of the reports calls for justice relate to sex trafficking, they call for support for sex trafficking victims through trauma and addiction treatment programs being paired with mental health, sexual exploitation and trafficking services. Call for support for indigenous led prevention initiatives related to sex trafficking and barrier free exiting and to call for mandatory training for transportation services, hospitality services, social workers and those implicated in child welfare to recognize signs of sexual exploitation. These calls for justice are essential to the prevention of violence against indigenous women and girls, and without action from the Canadian government, they are completely complicit in the perpetuation of this neglect and abuse.

Ellie Tommila 11:03
Our next category is challenges with measures. According to an article written to help survivors, recommend action plans for healthcare practices. Some healthcare workers report a lack of training in identifying and assisting individuals in potential trafficking situations, which can leave the victim potentially not feeling safe or believed to come forward with their stories. Why don't survivors report? Many victims are unable to report due to the hidden nature of the crime. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, one reason is that survivors are afraid to talk to law enforcement due to the control the trafficker has over them, according to ICE, due to the complex nature of the crime, traffickers often operate under the radar, and those trafficked are not likely to identify as victims, often blaming themselves. There is a lot of fear and shame when it comes to human trafficking reporting. Situations where they don't report could be their lack of knowledge of their rights in Canada, which can mean they could be from Canada or trafficked into Canada. According to a fact sheet on human trafficking, foreign victims of trafficking are often fearful of being deported or jailed, and therefore they may distrust authority figures, particularly law enforcement and government officials. The distrust of general authority is due to the fear of retaliation, concerns about inadequate protection for survivors and a historical lack of responsiveness or understanding from law enforcement and other institutions.

Imee Fernandez 12:41
Another challenge we want to talk about is in prosecution. Successful prosecution often depends on the victim's testimony and cooperating evidence. However, human trafficking victims may be seen as less credible due to the factors related to vulnerability, including homelessness, mental health issues and substance abuse. Stigma around these factors are a large issue. The document of justice Canada called Moving Forward: promising practices of the prosecution, of cases of sexual assault against adults, by Christine McGoey, describes the many, many challenges in the process of prosecution. I just want to share a couple of the complications with everyone in the investigative stage, nature and impact of SA and a little bit on alcohol and drugs facilitated SA. During the investigative stage, the quality of the initial interview can determine the impacts of the case, such as providing statements and medical treatments and medical reports of course. The training of the officers and interviews need to incorporate trauma informed practices and questions lining with sensory experiences, and this can be hard to determine and to like recall, such as like touch, taste and smell, leading into the nature of the impacts of SA. That first interview and its quality might not be the standard hoped for because of the trauma, as well as the factors such as feelings of being shamed or self-blamed, fear of not being believed and not understanding on how to go about prosecution. Other accessibility barriers in reaching for help and justice could also include the person's social, economical standing, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and religion. On the topic of alcohol and drug facilitated SA, yes, there are toxicology reports, but for the victim, it could be the lack of recall. Symptoms also may vary depending on the drug which can decrease credibility. I looked at the misconceptions in the document, and some that are being negatively spread, stated by McGoey is that people who use alcohol or drugs are asking to be raped. That is a myth and misconception but no, vulnerability it does not imply consent. Going back to the topic of human trafficking, there are some stats and conclusions that I've pulled from Statistics Canada on Trafficking in Persons in Canada, in 2022. One in four, human trafficking incidents involve at least one other type of violation, most often related to sex trade. Human trafficking cases average more charges and take longer to complete than other violent cases. And lastly, one in 10 completed sex trafficking, human trafficking cases result in finding of guilt.

Isabella Gray 16:04
The next section focuses on more education awareness and funding for programs working to help marginal women. Education is vital to prevention of violence. We must have a wider awareness of what is happening within our communities and work towards protection for all people. This can be done through implementing training for all workers in the social sphere to understand and recognize the signs of human trafficking. Systemic inequities and inter-jurisdictional issues in human trafficking and murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls in Two Spirit plus, written by native Women's Association of Canada, is a document outlining connections between murdered and missing Indigenous women and trafficking survivors. The document demands calls to action to necessary for prevention of further harm. It outlines the varying issues stemming from colonialism that have placed Indigenous women and girls in such a vulnerable position to become trafficked more than the rest of the population. I have chosen to draw quotes from the document that outline areas where we need more education and funding and resources to prevent a continuation of violence. From Page 22 The document explains that frontline prevention is the most hands on approach and sees the best results, but there is a lack of resources, so frontline work is not widespread enough to help everyone. The efforts made on the frontline are the best strategies for dealing with human trafficking. However, they experience several challenges that prevent them from doing their work to the best of their ability. Some of these challenges include insufficient funding or support from all levels of government. Within helping women and girls escape human sex trafficking, there is the issue of, where do we take the survivors? More safe houses are needed. There are not enough safe houses, and overpopulation within shelters leads to people going back out onto the street and being preyed upon again and again. Human trafficking is a nationwide problem, so there has to be national money, but there also has to be provincial responses and local responses. This is a quote from page 26 "local responses to human trafficking are important because that includes frontline work. It starts from the bottom up. Local communities need to band together and recognize where communities have faults and need more protection. With a growing collective, there can be more recognition at a larger level, and with enough voices, provincial and federal money can follow". A quote from page 27 to support the claim of community as vital to safety. "We know that when someone's being trafficked, it could be a janitor, it could be a maid, it could be a teacher, it could be a brother, could be anybody that she discloses to first, and if that is not met with some kind of positive response, then she may never disclose again, and she may simply just return to that, and who knows what will happen after that." So education is really important.

Ellie Tommila 18:56
Lastly, we want to add this podcast to talk about our main takeaways and our personal reflections. Human trafficking is a very serious topic that is not discussed and engaged enough in. It is a hard crime to measure as there is little to no opportunity for survivors to report on as these situations are extremely hard to get out of. Efforts to combat human trafficking require increased awareness, education and collaboration at local, national and international levels.

Imee Fernandez 19:25
We also talked about a lot about challenges, and it just seems to be piling up. But I'm very grateful to have this opportunity to speak up and to talk about this with my classmates. I really like seeing the increasing rates of how we're educating ourselves and each other, and social media is also a powerful way of educating ourselves.

Isabella Gray 19:49
I took the opportunity of this podcast to expand upon an issue that I've heard about in Canada, but had little to no information on other than that it exists. I wanted to become more aware of how human trafficking works within Canada by looking at personal stories and looking to wider interlocking systems of power. It is important to look deeply on an issue and understand colonialism as a long term cycle that continues to violate indigenous people. Being critically aware of how the systems of power violate marginalized people is vital to building stronger community bonds. Having more awareness about issues of human trafficking and how to recognize the signs can help save so many people. More education for recognition is necessary. With a wider awareness, there can be more lobbying for funding and more safe spaces made available. I hope that this project can make people more aware of this as a serious issue that needs the entire population's attention. Violence against indigenous people has been systematically ignored and erased. This needs to stop through educating oneself and becoming more aware we can all work together to protect all the people in our community.

Imee Fernandez 20:54
In this podcast, we discussed sex and human trafficking in Canada, as well as the challenges faced in measuring, prosecuting and educating to prevent human trafficking. We know that this is a tough topic to digest and talk about, but it is also important to have these types of conversations with each other and continue to educate ourselves. If at any point in this podcast you felt uncomfortable, overwhelmed or uneasy don't be afraid to talk about it with someone or reach out. We'll also be providing our resources in the description, if you want to take a closer look at the topics discussed. Again, we have Isabella, Ellie and myself, Imee on this podcast with you. Thank you for listening to our podcast, if you've made it this far, take care of yourself and each other.