B.C. to lead Canada in training experts with human trafficking

Photos

Vancouver Map

see larger image

uploaded by CJaye

VANCOUVER, B.C. — The little girl is pinned against a wall, shielding her face with her arms during yet another beating. The graphic image and others like it are haunting - depicting children, women and men trapped in a form of modern-day slavery that forces them into sex work by the millions worldwide as they're moved from one country to another through deceit. The Salvation Army's hard-hitting "The Truth Isn't Sexy" TV ad that has aired inBritish Columbia sheds a light on the reality of human trafficking, often considered the second-most lucrative profit-making venture for recruiters, just behind the drug trade. Similar ads will air in other provinces by the end of the year. Robin Pike, who heads British Columbia's Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons, noted the riveting ad for its effective message and said the B.C. government will produce its own anti-human trafficking public awareness campaign later this year to draw attention to the growing number of victims that end up in the Metro Vancouver area. The provinceis trying to take the lead in Canada, training experts to deal with trafficking and its human consequences. On Thursday, provincial officials were reviewing an American group's curriculum to trainexperts to deal with people who've been trafficked so they can get the help they need everything from emergency shelter, medical and legal services to counselling. Most Canadians can't imagine human trafficking in their own country, Pike said. "It's assumed that it is something that happens offshore, that African children are moved around from one country to another or Asian women are moved around," she said. "Every country in the first world, all through Europe, the United States, Australia, they have found that human trafficking is in their midst. But Canada is not addressing it yet the way other countries are." The New York-based Freedom Network USA will present its training material to a team of B.C. government lawyers and social service experts this week, as well as ambulance attendants, nurses who deal with sexual-assault cases and community service agencies that run transition homes and provide translation services. Pike said B.C. is following the example of several countries like Britain and the United States in trying to implement a co-ordinated system to cope with people who've been transported from various jurisdictions to be sexually exploited, forced to work in sweatshops or even domestic labour. source: http://tinyurl.com/bn6gy3