2020
A 12-year-old girl. She’s the youngest among the more than 215 sex trafficking victims the Toronto Police Service came into contact with since forming the human trafficking enforcement team in
www.toronto.com
#Highway pirates; guns, drugs and human trafficking in your own backyard
''Barbara Gosse, who was CEO of
The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking at the time of this interview but has since left her position, said predators could find their victims through social media, at parties or even in schools. “There has been known to be peer-to-peer trafficking happening in high schools in the GTA.”
The “Romeo” pimp will initially shower his victim with gifts and pretend to be her boyfriend.
“They will treat them very well, but within a very short period of time that relationship will turn and they can then start to exploit them, start to expect that they are going to be serving them in different ways, including having sex with men for money,” Gosse said. “
They (victims) do get transported, and it’s also a way to keep these individuals isolated, away from family or friends.”
Correa said many pimps are “cross trained” in different types of criminality. “A lot of them are
involved in the drug trade.
Some of them have experience with street gangs. A lot of them have violent tendencies.”
''Some victims are even branded with tattoos, signaling they’re making money (crowns, dollar signs, diamonds), signaling they’re already owned (trafficker’s image, name or initials) or signaling they’re for sale. “Oftentimes this will be on their neck,” said Heather Fry, former Canada director of
Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT). “Oftentimes the trafficker or the pimp will put their name right on the victim. We’ve seen barcodes, we’ve seen things that just say ‘Property of … ’”
“Truck drivers are uniquely positioned to be able to spot signs of human trafficking as they’re out on the road (and) when they’re at truck stops, hotels, motels (and) rest areas,” Fry said. “This is modern day slavery, and the trucking industry can be a major asset in helping law enforcement recover victims and having pimps arrested just by taking a second look and making a phone call.”
