At a time when British royal Prince Andrew is making headlines for being accused of exploiting teenagers for sex, this week is perhaps as good a time as any for discussions about what human trafficking means to society.
The Foster Family Coalition of the NWT hosted two three-hour sessions on Monday called Human Trafficking 101 that featured Christine Pratt, a survivor advocate based in Ottawa and manager of Anti-Trafficking Services with an organization fighting child sex abuse and exploitation called Voice Found.
Pratt said one characteristic of human trafficking is that it is a "victim-based crime" and is associated with "the act of recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of someone, of the use of threat, use of kidnapping, force fraud, deception, coercion for the purpose of sexual exploitation, forced labour, or removal of organs."
What is most important, she said, is that human trafficking can happen anywhere people frequent and can exchange money, such as in hotels, motels, Airbnbs, truck stops or highways.
"Does anybody think that trafficking is not happening here?" she said. "It can happen literally anywhere."
Although the event was advertised as open to the public and free for any questions, Pratt declined an interview, asking that her personal story not be recorded for public consumption and refused any photographs be taken during her session.
Nonetheless, her presentation Monday night stretched over roughly three hours and discussed human trafficking from how youth get caught up in the sex trade, to what a victim looks like and how they relate to their pimps to places where sex is sold - including through online tools like Tik Tok or Ghost Map to social media outlets like Instagram and Facebook.
She even mentioned a website called Leolist, where sex is sold. The website had at least one 21-year-old female in Yellowknife named "Kelly" featured as of Monday.
photo screenshot of LeolList
“This is a new place to sell sex,” she said. “It is even a place where I will go to look for my clients. The traffic on the site in Yellowknife is not super high.”
Issues raised involving the local sex trade included the impact of mine workers and the demand for female escorts in local hotels.
Close to 40 people were in attendance at the evening session attended by Yellowknifer. Among them were government social service workers and partnering organizations in town that work with youth at risk.
Tammy Roberts, executive director for the Foster Family Coalition said there were about the same amount of people in the afternoon session. On Tuesday, the coalition hosted events at St. Patrick High School and Sir John Franklin to about 150 people each, Roberts said.
"I don't know if I have any knowledge on (how prevalent the issue is in the NWT)," Roberts said when asked. "But if you looked at the individuals who are at risk, it is youth in foster care that are on that list."
Roberts said she had become aware of Pratt during a Canadian Foster Family Conference she attended in Ontario last spring.
"I was very ignorant to the topic and chatting with other foster parents and people in the communities, everyone was as ignorant as I was," she said.
Pratt’s discussion touched on how to identify red flags as to when youth may be getting caught up in the sex trade, which can include changes in behaviour, new cell phones being purchased, school truancy and using drugs.
She also talked about physical changes to the body that can include everything from shakiness and nervousness to weight loss to sallow eyes and being frequently fatigued.
Raylene Powder, a navigator with Side Door, which works with transitional youth, said she found the workshop informative and interesting. Pratt complimented the organization for being able to provide emergency beds - something she said is not always widely available or well funded.
“I definitely think it is really huge down south and while it happens in the North, it is more hidden up here," Powder said.
"The speaker was good and she gave a lot of good detail. I also think it was important to speak on behalf of her own personal experience. Having that awareness is great for the community because it is happening in the North."
RCMP participates
The Yellowknife RCMP had two police officers and a crime analyst from the federal policing unit attend as spectators during the event on Monday.
"Our goal was to listen to the victim of human trafficking to gain information that could assist us in our approach to future victims," stated Staff Sgt Dean Riou, non-commissioned officer in charge of the Federal Investigations Unit in an email Monday.
The unit oversees human trafficking and has a program called Project Guardian which seeks to "detect, prevent and deter" the practice.
"We had no formal participation, but did engage in some of the ensuing conversation."
Riou stated the topic is always important to pay attention to in the North and NWT because it exploits the most vulnerable citizens. He added it is "difficult to quantify" and noted that it can get complicated because there are people from the North who enter the practice in the south as well as some who come North.
