Toronto, October 12, 2010 – Ontario has done little to assist victims of human trafficking, despite having the largest proportion of human trafficking victims and the greatest number of human trafficking prosecutions underway.
At the Toronto book launch for Invisible Chains: Canada’s Underground World of Human Trafficking, author and UBC law professor Benjamin Perrin called on the Ontario government to (1) create a provincial agency or coordinating body to help connect trafficking victims with needed services; and (2) create an integrated police task force to crack down on violent traffickers operating in the province.
He explained that as a result of provincial inaction, traffickers, who are often linked to local gangs, go unpunished. He also revealed that the victims of this crime are sometimes imprisoned in immigration detention facilities because there is no system in place to direct them to safe accommodation provided by willing social service providers.
“Unlike other provinces, Ontario has no system in place to coordinate services to help human trafficking victims and the cost of this inaction is being paid by victims,” said Perrin. “It is time for the government to step up and join other provinces in helping victims of modern-day slavery.”
Human trafficking in Canada involves the sexual exploitation and forced labour of a diverse array of victims: Canadian citizens and newcomers, adults and children, women and men.
Invisible Chains is the first book ever published to expose the issue of human trafficking in Canada. The book is based on a three-year investigation and documents cases reported by police, provincial officials, immigration, and non-governmental organizations as well as accounts from victims and their families. It also evaluates Canada’s response and makes specific recommendations. More information about the book and human trafficking in Canada is available at www.endmoderndayslavery.ca.
Benjamin Perrin is an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, Faculty of Law, a faculty fellow at the Liu Institute for Global Issues, and a leading expert on human trafficking. As a senior policy adviser and a witness before several Parliamentary committees, he has advised the federal government on this issue. He has also worked overseas with victims and assisted in the prosecution of child sex offenders as executive director of The Future Group, a non-governmental organization that he founded in 2000 to combat human trafficking. In 2009, Perrin was honoured by Hillary Clinton and the U.S. State Department as a “hero acting to end modern-day slavery” – the first Canadian to be recognized by this award.
For Perrin’s picture and cover of book, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/invisiblechains.
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Media Inquiries:
Barbara Bower, Senior Publicist, Penguin Group (Canada)
416-928-2405, Barbara.Bower@ca.penguingroup.com
