Local group advocates for awareness and changes for survivors of human trafficking
The Business and Professional Women (BPW) has long been an advocate for increased awareness and the need to help more people who have survived human trafficking. National Human Trafficking Awareness Day was on Feb. 22 and the Selkirk Record spoke to the local president of BPW Selkirk and past president of the national arm of BPW Colleen Allan about the needs of those who have survived human trafficking.
Human Trafficking according to Manitoba Government legislation is the trade in persons, often for the purpose of sexual slavery, servitude or forced labour.
Allan explained that this is an important topic for BPW because they advocate for women.
“Our goal is to be able to empower women to be everything they were meant to be and so that means looking at all of the things that really stop women, or are barriers for women, from being able to get an education, for being able to be safe and to be ensuring safe housing,” said Allan.
She explained that though it’s not just women who are trafficked and there are many different forms of trafficking, this is important advocacy work that they do that affects women.
Allan pointed out that this is not something that only happens in the city or only happens if people fall into the wrong crowd. Allan shared a story without giving names, for the sake of keeping the survivor of this violence’s identity private, about an, at the time, Mantioba student who some time ago found herself victim to human trafficking.
“She was trafficked by her boyfriend, who was in the same class as her at school,” said Allan.
Allan explained that the family thought that the boyfriend and his family were nice people so when the boyfriend’s mother invited the girl to stay over at their house over the holiday break, they gave their permission.
“Then she goes. (Once in) the house, they immediately take her clothes, take her, take her phone and lock her in a bedroom,” said Allan.
Meanwhile, they used the girl’s phone to text her family saying that she was having fun and asking if she could stay a few more days. During that time, she was abused.
Fortunately, the girl was able to obtain a phone and contacted her family who came to rescue her.
“You do everything right, and that still doesn’t matter,” explained Allan.
Some of the ways that BPW has advocated for human trafficking awareness has been to contact different levels of government. They are hoping to work towards updating the Human Trafficking National Action Plan as they believe that it needs to be looked at again with particular work going into extending it and creating a response that involves multiple government departments and agencies working together.
They also are working to bring to light the fact that some survivors of human trafficking will have a criminal record as a result of their trafficking experience. They believe that survivors should not be forced to bring these records with them throughout their lives as they were forced to do these criminal acts by the traffickers. Because of this, they advocate for expunging the criminal records of people who have been trafficked.
“They use them for prostitution. They use them for drug trafficking. They use them for a number of things, and they’re coerced and forced. (The survivors are) the ones that get the jail sentence. As a result, they have a record,” said Allan.
She explained that this is very limiting when it comes to getting these survivors of human trafficking help as, if they’ve been forced into these situations when they were still under 18, they have likely not completed their education, their social supports are often gone, and the criminal record makes getting more education or looking for work difficult when looking to start a new life.
At a local level, BPW Selkirk in 2022 hosted a poster campaign in which businesses in our community were asked to put up posters with information about human trafficking.
“I think it was wonderful that it was supported by businesses in Selkirk,” said Allan.
In general, Allan says that everyone should know more about human trafficking in order to tackle the issue of the stigma that surrounds it.
“(It’s) the same as the stigma about mental health and other things that are affecting our civil society. There is always some portion, just like with interpersonal violence, where the victim is blamed and the victim feels at fault,” she said.
BPW Selkirk also advocates for a community approach for dealing with the issue of human trafficking. They believe not one person or group can help everyone but that by having people from our many great community organizations work together, we can get more done.
“The Selkirk and district area is a small enough community that this can happen. It’s harder to do in a larger, amorphous city, but if we all got together on the same page, and be able to have a strategy from each of us that is coalesced, (we could do some good),” said Allan.
“Let’s get together and have a safety plan or a recovery plan for people to be able to get the education that they need, to get the jobs that they need to be able to change their lives,” she continued.
Allan’s advice to people in Selkirk and the surrounding area to help tackle this issue is that we need to create safe spaces locally but also we need to make our community a safe space.
“Create the ability to give the supports that are needed for this person and for people who are in this position to be able to change their lives,” she said.
If you suspect a human trafficking situation of taking place, call the RCMP.
