Human Trafficking: I'm not for sale

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Are They Victims?

• Are they doing the work and being paid what was promised?
• Are they being forced or pressured to work?
• Do they have access to their papers/travel documents?
• Are they or their loved ones being threatened?
• Are they free to go where they please?

Human trafficking is a global and multi-faceted phenomenon. This modern form of slavery is characterized by the exploitation of women, men and children who are deprived of liberty. It is presumed that human trafficking is tied with illegal arms sales as the second largest criminal activity in the world.

We’re Talking Human Trafficking – Not Human Smuggling

While the two terms are often used interchangeably, it is important to distinguish between human trafficking and human smuggling. The major difference involves matters of exploitation.

What’s the Difference?

HUMAN SMUGGLING is a form of illegal migration involving the organized transport of persons across an international border, usually in exchange for a sum of money, and sometimes involving dangerous conditions. The relationship between the smuggler and smuggled is a voluntary business transaction, and usually ends when the client reaches the intended destination. The financial component of a human smuggling transaction can be a one-time fee paid to the smuggler before arrival or instalment payments after arrival.

Unlike human smuggling, HUMAN TRAFFICKING occurs both across international borders and within national boundaries. It can include an element of human smuggling. As well, trafficked persons do not necessarily enter a country clandestinely or illegally. They may enter with a valid passport, visa or working papers.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING involves the exploitation of people through force, coercion, threat, fraud or deception and may include acts generally defined as human rights abuses. Victims may be forced into labour, prostitution or some other form of servitude. The relationship between trafficker and victim does not end upon arrival at destination country, as the victim is usually subjected to debt bondage (enforced labour to pay off a debt).

Domestic Human Trafficking

While human trafficking is usually associated with migrant victims, it can be a purely domestic phenomenon. Vulnerable, economically challenged and socially dislocated sectors of the Canadian population represent a potential pool of trafficking victims. This includes teenaged runaways, as well as girls and women who may be lured to urban centres or who migrate there voluntarily.

The Promises Made to the Victims

• Money
• Work
• Education
• Freedom
• The American Dream
• Financial help to the family
• A better life
• A promising future

How to Recognize a Victim

• Speaking neither English nor French;
• Originates from foreign countries;
• Is unaware of local surroundings even though he/she has been in the area for an extended period of time;
• Evidence of control, intimidation or abnormal psychological fear;
• Evidence of an inability to move or leave job;
• Bruises or other signs of battering;
• Malnutrition;
• Is accompanied by the trafficker.

What is the Victim’s Mindset?

The victims may:

• Not self-identify as victims of human trafficking. Victims may not appear to need social services because they have a place to live, food to eat, medical care and what they think is a paying job;
• Be taught to distrust outsiders, especially law enforcement. They have a sense of fear and distrust toward the government and police because they are afraid they will be deported;
• Feel better in their current situation than where they came from, even if they are being exploited;
• Be completely unaware of their rights or may have been intentionally misinformed about their rights in our country;
• Fear for their families in their home countries. Some traffickers threaten that they will harm their families if they report their situations to, or cooperate with, law enforcement.

Contact Us

Royal Canadian Mounted Police
4225 Dorchester Boulevard
Westmount, Quebec
H3Z 1V5

Immigration and Passport Section – Quebec
Montréal : 514-939-8306
Elsewhere in Quebec (24 hrs.): 1-866-227-2124

See also: Human Trafficking National Coordination Centre