Modern Day Slavery
The UPAABC held a seminar on human trafficking with some community partners including the UBC Philippine Studies Series and the Liu Institute for Global Issues. The following is an article about the seminar that appeared in the Philippine Canadian Inquirer, another partner.
Human trafficking, sometimes called modern-day slavery, is the stuff a nightmare is made of. The most vulnerable – women and children – are taken from their homes, from their lives, from everything they know, against their will, to live in the underbelly of society, doing unspeakable things and having unspeakable things done to them. It is happening everywhere. It is happening in Canada
Both the destination and transit point for human trafficking, approximately 1,200 persons are trafficked to (and through) Canada each year. Authorities say, however, that the real number could be as high as 16,000.
In a forum on Human Trafficking recently held at the Liu Institute for Global Issues, these statistics and the economic, socio-cultural, and historical contexts of human trafficking, including the myriad forms of forced labor, were discussed. The speakers included Lila Ramos-Shahani (Assistant Secretary, Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster – Philippines), Velma Veloria (former Washington State representative and sponsor of HB 1175), Emma Catague (API-Chaya), Dr. Michael Markwick (Capilano University) and Suzanne Jay (Asian Women’s Coalition Representative).
A Story
Lila Shahani started with a painful, all-too-familiar story. “The friend of a friend promises a young girl from an impoverished family a high-paying job abroad as a waitress. The amount being offered both astonishes and delights her, and she responds with a resounding yes. How can she not want to help her family? Magically, the paper work is prepared in the blink of an eye. She is to be sent to the Middle East, but must first pass by Malaysia as a stowaway. So she boards a motorized banca as the dusk begins to fall, hoping to evade roving coast guards on her way from Tawi-tawi to Sabah. Before long, she finds herself in a cramped, dark space, her wrists encrusted in cold metal. She is handed a large box of condoms and is blithely informed that this will have to be her daily quota from now on — that is, if she hopes to eat at all. ”
Thus started the discussion on human trafficking, but the audience soon found out that it encompasses a larger scope.
Filipinos in Canada
“When you talk about human trafficking, right away people assume it’s about sex. But the experience we’re having in other communities of color is that it’s not only about sex but about labour,” says speaker Velma Veloria.
What she said was true for the Filipino community in Canada – it is forced labour, involuntary servitude and the mail order brides – that give human trafficking its ugly face. Right under our noses and within our communities are caregivers who are paid a pittance, whose passports are taken, made to work 7 days a week, threatened of deportation and kept like prisoners; temporary foreign workers who are overworked and underpaid and enjoy little rights; farm workers who are forced to live in sub-human conditions, sleeping where farm animals live, eating what they eat. And, as related by speaker Emma Catague, there are those who come through marriage, but end up in despair.
A cause for concern
Human Trafficking is an offence under the Criminal Code of Canada and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. It involves the recruitment, transportation or harbouring of persons for the purpose of exploitation (typically in the sex industry or for forced labour). Traffickers use various methods to maintain control over their victims, including force, sexual assault, threats of violence and physical or emotional abuse. Human trafficking may occur across or within borders, may involve extensive organized crime networks, and is clearly a violation of the basic human rights of its victims. The relationship between the trafficker and the victim is continuous and extends beyond the border crossing. Victims may be forced into labour, prostitution or some other form of servitude. Victims may suffer abuse from their traffickers and may face severe consequences if they attempt to escape (http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/ht-tp/q-a-trafficking-traite-eng.htm).
Some fast facts about human trafficking:
- It is the third largest criminal enterprise, valued at $15 billion in 2012.
- Illegal recruitment, particularly in the Philippines, is at its base.
- According to some estimates, approximately 80% of trafficking involves sexual exploitation, and 19% involves labor exploitation.
- 68% of female sex trafficking victims meet the clinical criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Around half of trafficking victims in the world are under the age of 18.
- Trafficked children are significantly more likely to develop mental health problems, abuse substances, engage in prostitution as adults, and either commit or be victimized by violent crimes later in life.
- Women who have been trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation experience a significantly higher rate of HIV and other STDs, tuberculosis, and permanent damage to their reproductive systems.
- Human traffickers don’t work in isolation. It is a network phenomenon, thus making it difficult to detect, much less prosecute human traffickers.
Sources: Initiative against Sexual Trafficking, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Free the Slaves
In Canada
Currently, the buying and selling of sexual services are legal in Canada. However, public communication for the purpose of prostitution, brothels and procuring are offences under the criminal law. Thus, in Canada, we have an odd situation where selling sex is legal but circumstances surrounding it are not. There are moves to change this, however – that is, to legalize brothels and pimps.”We should be alarmed,” says Dr. Michael Markwick. He said such move will legalize and/or encourage human trafficking. He proposes, instead, that Canada copy the Nordic model – that is, to decriminalize sex workers and criminalize their clients, which has worked in Sweden and Iceland (there would be no supply if there is no demand).
Another cause for concern for speaker Suzanne Jay is the new conditional spousal visa rules, which required that a sponsored spouse will have to remain in the relationship for a certain period of time before becoming a permanent resident. According to Suzanne Jay, many victims of human trafficking (usually mail order brides seduced with promises of love and forever) would be forced to stay in an abusive relationship because they do not want to lose their status in Canada.
A member of the audience revealed that she was involved in the rescue of a human trafficking victim in Hongkong long ago. She verbalized the reason why victims would not come out or why most people would not help: fear. Both victim and saviour fear that their families will be killed if they go to the authorities – after all, at the center of human trafficking is organized crime.
However, sooner rather than later – as shown by the ever increasing number of those trafficked – the pernicious effects of human trafficking will touch and affect more lives. Both speakers and audience resolved that they could not let this happen, and that they will keep the discussion going.
For more information, please visit http://ubcphilippinestudies.ca