The Honorable Member of Parliament Arnold Viersen has been under fire since asking NDP MP Laurel Collins if prostitution is an area of work she has considered.  The comments arose out of a parliamentary debate regarding the tragic murder of 22-year-old Marylene Levesque in a Quebec City hotel room.  As you might expect, Viersen was immediately interrupted by a chorus of heckling.  But let me suggest that the daring query wasn’t offside.

Levesque’s alleged killer is a 51-year-old medium-risk parolee who had been given permission by a case worker to visit a prostitute.  The case is shocking on a variety of levels, and anytime the Parole Board is party to violence in the community, Public Safety Canada and the Minister responsible, MP Bill Blair in this case, must provide answers.

              Marylene Levesque (22)

Viersen, being a long time advocate against sexual violence and human trafficking, wasn’t about to sit this one out.  Climate change activist Collins, in contrast, was clearly out of her depth on the discussion, but she jumped in, regardless.  Diverting blame, she went on the offensive by attacking 2014 Bill C-36; legislation that actually made it a crime for the Parole Board to permit an offender to see a prostitute.  Ironically, Collins condemned the very thing that should have prevented Levesque’s violent death.  It didn’t because laws were broken!  She claimed Bill C-36 criminalized women in prostitution and prevented them from taking precautions.  In fact, the opposite is true.  The Harper Conservatives have been the only government to pass legislation to protect exploited persons from criminal responsibility.

Collins, didn’t stop there.  She went on to repeat the old but dangerous mantra, “Sex work is work.” It argues that normalizing sex industry activities, and removing the stigma from who participate in it, will somehow keep “sex workers” from harm.  It won’t, and that’s why it’s dangerous, but that’s the narrative.  And if she really believes it -that women should be able to navigate a career in prostitution without loss of dignity or social status, she shouldn’t have a problem with Viersen’s question.  From her view, the question must be considered on par with asking if she had ever thought of studying medicine.  Anyone finding Viersen’s question inappropriate, in that context, must grapple with their own contempt for women in the sex industry.  The MPs who did, Collins included, have called into question their own ability to speak to the issue.

If Viersen was smart to ask the question, then what was his blunder?  Though he outfoxed his opponents across the isle, he caved to pressure for an apology.  In doing so, he forfeited a golden opportunity to call out those who had just displayed such ignorance and hypocrisy.  The bright point in this story, however, is that Arnold Viersen didn’t hesitate to run the gauntlet to acknowledge a precious life lost and, perhaps, prevent the next one from being taken.  For that, he has earned my respect.

A black Cadillac pulls up to a side door of the hotel and waits. “Something’s up,” I think to myself. Behind the wheel is a man in his 40’s, he looks South Asian. A pimp, perhaps? Not likely. He more fits the profile of a typical driver. In the sex industry, drivers are private owner/operators, often used to shuttle girls on “outcalls” to meet with clients. It’s a cash-only transaction, and there’s never record of the fare.

I happened to be circling the hotel because I was looking for a particular vehicle; a BMW sedan. Earlier that day, I had spoken with a woman who was concerned that her daughter might be in the company of a human trafficker –the owner of the Beamer I’m looking for. This was the first place for me to look because it’s always crawling with pimps and johns. I don’t see the car, so I head across the street to a second hotel. Again, I come up empty.* As I drive back onto the service road, I notice two teenage girls emerge from the first hotel -15 years old, perhaps, maybe 16. They’re all dolled up and wearing heels. As you guessed, they climb in to the back seat of the black Caddy.

Human trafficking is big business in the Toronto area. Whether it’s the hotels or some guy trying to earn a few bucks on the side, a lot of people are eager to share in the profits. As I merge onto highway 401, I notice the Caddy is on my tail. I’m quickly overtaken, as the car weaves in and out at an excessive speed. Time is money, and the driver is doing is best to regain the lost minutes waiting for the girls.

That’s what it’s all about. The money. It’s why girls, like the two kids in the black car, are being trafficked in the sex industry. It’s why the hotels rent rooms to youngsters with fake ID and prepaid credit cards, while their so-called “boyfriends” watch from across the lobby. If it wasn’t for the profits, none of this would be happening. And I would have no BMW to look for because no pimp could ever buy one without his dirty money.

Like anything else, it’s about supply and demand. The demand is driven by middleclass family men from the suburbs who are willing to use their money to access something to which they have no right. The other day I shared my concern with a precious young lady whose exploitation began when she was 15 years old –that no amount of money had ever bought the right for any man to touch her. Her response came in the form of tears.

In 2014 Canada gained new criminal code restrictions on the purchase sexual services. But most think that’s a little extreme. Right now, the provinces are trying what might be considered a more balanced approach. The idea is that we should allow people to enjoy prostitution, but not tolerate human trafficking. The various police forces around the GTA, for example, are right now racking up record numbers of human trafficking arrests. Punishing pimps is a good idea but it’s not even partially achieving the objective of reducing domestic human trafficking. Only when the flow of that dirty money stops will the trafficking of vulnerable young people come to an end.

The money is the driver.

*My work with parents of exploited young people sometimes involves gathering information to help them dialogue more effectively with police, as they seek to intervene on behalf of their children. I play no direct role in punishing pimps.  

In February 2018, I had the privilege in accompanying Kelly Franklin, from Farmtown Canada, and MPP’s Laurie Scott and Jeff Yurek to speak at the Ontario Legislature, Queen’s Park.  The event was a press release to raise concern about the challenges in accessing funding and licencing for treatment facilities for minor-aged victims of sex trafficking.  My message was edited for time and content.  The following is the uncut version of my speech.

Advocating for child sex trafficking victims, at Queen’s Park, Toronto, 2018.

The human rights crisis of minor-age sex trafficking is on the rise in Ontario because we have been ill-informed and too slow to respond.  Despite a dramatic increase in arrests of human traffickers, the problem remains because the demand for paid sex goes largely unchecked.

Sex trafficking is an industry that is predicated on gender violence.  The greatest risk factor is, simply, being a girl.  The perpetrators are men who pay for access to the bodies of young victims.  They destroy countless young lives in this province, and the lack of intervention is shameful.

Premier Wynne and Attorney General Naqvi, Ontario trails behind other provinces in providing legislation to protect vulnerable young people from exploitation.  In 2002 Bill 86, Rescuing Children from Sexual Exploitation Act, was intended to protect trafficked minors.  Without the legislation, police and child protection workers were greatly limited in their ability to intervene.  With a change of government in 2003, Bill 86 was mothballed, and eventually tossed into the trash by the then Premier on News Years Day, 2013.  After all these years, nothing has changed.

In 2014 the federal government finally gave the provinces effective tools to address illegal sex industry activities with the Protection of Communities and Vulnerable Persons Act (Bill C-36).  While these new criminal code provisions largely focus on prostitution activities, their greatest potential is to significantly cut the volume of human trafficking in Canada.  The effectiveness is conditional on aggressive enforcement against the purchase of sexual services.

Ms. Wynne, you evidently have a soft spot for the patrons of this violent criminal industry.  The day after these new federal protections came into force you held a press conference to discourage Ontarians from abiding by the laws, and police from enforcing them.  As a result, sex trafficking continues, unabated, in this province, and impacts untold numbers of minor-aged victims.

Mr. Naqvi, when you were about to take up the portfolio of Attorney General, I was called to your office to provide guidance for Ontario’s 2016 Strategy to End Human Trafficking.  I insisted that that you take steps to reduce the inflow of new sex trafficking victims.  Because that did not happen, the demand for girls remains high and the industry is booming.  To make matters worse, I’ve discovered that police agencies are being actively discouraged, by your Crown Attorneys, from charging sex buyers.  Mr. Naqvi, your so-called plan to end human trafficking won’t even slow it down.  Instead, you’ve created a make-work project that ensures police and social workers will have an endless supply of broken girls and women to rescue and restore.

Ms. Wynne and Mr. Naqvi, you were given a golden opportunity to protect Ontario’s young and vulnerable from human sex trafficking.  Your failure to do that has resulted in an unacceptable human toll.  The June 7^th general election will bring new opportunities to address this important human rights issue.  Whatever the political landscape, from that point on, I hope and pray we will have learned from our negligence, and, as a province, finally get it right.

From communities across Canada, untold numbers of young women* are involved in escorting, street walking, exotic massage, stripping and pornography. These common activities of the domestic sex industry strip away “human dignity” and have a “disproportionate impact on women and children”.** Despite the resulting extreme emotional and physical toll, many young women will remain in the industry for a very long time. It can be truly devastating for family and friends to watch this happen, and it can also be confusing to understand why the girls don’t just come home. In the end, most make it out alive, but none remain unscathed. The damage inflicted can be severe.

In this age of the “hook-up culture“, many young people have adopted a casual view of commercial sex. As a result, more kids from functional homes are participating in sex industry activities, than ever before.  While there may be a lack of obvious precursors for some, it’s important to note the likelihood of involvement exponentially increases when additional factors are present. Understanding the roots of vulnerability is invaluable, whether safeguarding young people from exploitation or helping them escape it. Ethnicity, socioeconomic status and neighbourhood demographics do have some bearing, but the following risk indicators are applicable to young people from any community:

• Female adolescent
• Absent or inattentive father
• Neglect or parental dysfunction
• Parental substance abuse/addictions
• Abuse: emotional, physical or sexual.
• Depression or other mental health issues
• Social difficulties/lack of stable peer relationships
• Developmental challenges
• Use of drugs/alcohol by the young person
• Estrangement from family, including homelessness and foster care

Young men are also commercially sexually exploited, but less frequently. Their experiences are not the same.  To begin with, physical differences render the girls more vulnerable to the violence that so often occurs. But male minds may also serve as a defense. Young men do not experience the same loss of self-determination as their female counterparts, and will more easily remove themselves from sex industry activities when they feel it is time to do so.

Many young women entering the sex industry are introduced to it by traffickers who use coercion to exploit them for their own gain. Others may enter without that level of duress, but once a female is exposed to the sex industry, she faces an exponentially greater risk of human trafficking. While pimps often pose as “boyfriends” or “agents”, most are, in fact, human traffickers.

Traffickers exploit their victims for the profits, and sometimes, to gain notoriety amongst their peers.  In contrast, the reasons girls enter and stay in the sex industry are much more numerous and complex. Below is a list of 20 common reasons why girls go into the sex industry and/or don’t come home.  All 20 may not apply to any one person, but at least a few probably will. Every point on the list is a common tactic used by pimps to lure or trap their prey, and each point is marked with a HTV, indicating that it relates to HUMAN TRAFFICKING VICTIMS.

Half of the list also applies to girls who may not be human trafficking victims, but are ensnared nonetheless. Entering the sex industry may be the result of a last-resort decision in a desperate situation, or a response to its enticement by a young person feeling lost. Even for girls without a pimp, exiting can be a great challenge. Points that are applicable to those WITH OUT A PIMP are marked with WOP.

Fast Money:  HTV WOP  A great deal of money can be made quickly in the sex industry. Young women may be motivated by pressing financial needs, or simply be drawn by its seductive lure. Once a girl is entrenched in the sex industry, low paying jobs seem untenable. The draw of fast money can remain with her even when her pimp takes the money away as fast as she brings it in.

Glamour:  HTV WOP  For someone entering the sex industry, fancy clothes, expensive gifts and fast cars create a convincing illusion of a glamourous lifestyle. This can more powerfully affect those from low income homes.

Intrigue:  HTV WOP  The sex industry is often fast paced and unpredictable. Those involved may frequently experience an adrenalin rush. This tends to be habit forming, with the desire to repeat the behaviour. As drama and danger become part of their normal world, peace and quiet may become boring or uncomfortable.

Validation:  HTV WOP  Girls who are starved for validation, especially from fathers, may feel an emotional need is being met through sex industry activities. Although the men they will encounter are self-serving, their brief attention may feel comforting. For some, this is a primary reason to remain in the sex trade.

Counterfeit Love:  HTV  The most common approach utilized by Canadian traffickers is the illusion of love.  Attention, affection and gifts are all part of the ploy. Trapped girls often view their trafficker as a boyfriend, long before they realize he is their pimp.

False Promises:  HTV  Traffickers commonly motivate girls with promises that can be as simple as a gift or special treatment; or it can be a tale about a happy future that doesn’t involve “working”. Younger girls and those with developmental challenges are especially vulnerable to such tactics by the pimp.

Brainwashing:  HTV  Traffickers often manipulate or force their victims to reject family, and to distrust police and social workers. Typically, a pimp will frequently tell his girls they are inadequate of without him.

Isolation:  HTV  A trafficker usually restricts contact between his victim and their family members, friends or others who might advocate for them. The trafficker may also move her from place to place to keep her detached and to prevent her from making new connections with others. This enforced isolation makes it easier for the trafficker to control his victim.

Drugs and Alcohol:  HTV WOP  Use of drugs/alcohol was previously mentioned a risk factor because it puts young people in risky situations with diminished inhibitions and little ability to protect themselves from predators.  But such behaviour can also lead to an addiction that drives the need to make “fast money”. Even for non-addicts, self-medication often becomes a means of coping, once in the sex industry. A trafficker may use drugs to increase a girl’s capacity for abuse (to be less resistant to client’s demands and/or to work longer hours) or to strengthen his control over her through dependency.

Accusations/Blame:  HTV  Traffickers constantly shift blame onto their victims. As a result, girls often blame themselves for what they have been involved in, regardless of their level of complicity.

Shame:  HTV WOP  Young women may feel great shame and guilt about their involvement in the sex industry.  Traffickers leverage these emotions to strip away all confidence and self-respect from their victims.  It becomes easy for them to believe that they are somehow lesser than others.

Violence/Torture:  HTV  Violence is occurs frequently in the sex industry. It may be used to physically overpower the victim or achieve submission by pain compliance and fear. When perpetrated by a client, the control is temporary, but traffickers may use violence to bolster a lengthy exploitative relationship.

Emotional Abuse:  HTV WOP  While emotional abuse might seem less violent than physical abuse, it can have an even deeper impact by eroding and ultimately breaking down the will of a victim. While more of a factor for trafficked girls, the impact of the emotional abuse inherent in the industry will also impact those without pimps.

Threats:  HTV  Traffickers often threaten their victims using a variety of techniques. Threats may range from physical violence to publically exposing the victim with pornographic images. When the threats directed at the victim become ineffective, a trafficker may threaten violence against her family members.

Trauma Bonds:  HTV  Victims often develop a sense of dependency on their abusers and develop a deep loyalty to them. This happens when extreme abuse and control is alternated with affection, praise, or simply providing the necessities of life. Pimps sometimes call this “dogging” a victim; psychologists describe the phenomena as “trauma bonds” or “Stockholm Syndrome”.

Debt Bondage:  HTV  Traffickers may demand repayment of supposed debts relating to living expenses, drugs/alcohol, purchased clothing/gifts or any number of things. Additionally, “leaving fees” are often levied for a victim who wants to sever ties with her trafficker.

Controlled Movements:  HTV  While it’s rare in the Canadian context, human trafficking victims can be kept in locked rooms and escorted anywhere they go. However, it’s quite common that the movements of a trafficked person will be closely monitored. Traffickers may not always be present, but they may use electronic devices or task one victim with watching another very closely

Normalization:  HTV WOP  Over time, this subculture will begin to seem normal. Whether or not they have been trafficked, young women inside the sex industry often become acclimatized to it.  Obvious signs of that happening will be seen in the way they speak, and also their body language. They may view their experience as one of utter defeat, or they may think they are achieving significant success in this underworld. Either way, the “square world” (outside the sex industry) will quickly become a foreign culture where life is too cumbersome. Girls and women in this position may feel that exiting the sex industry is not worth the trouble.  

Fear of Rejection:  HTV WOP  After becoming involved in the sex industry, many young women feel they are not “like other girls”, and that when people look at them, “they will know”.  They believe that their reputation will always precede them and that rejection will be a major obstacle to rebuilding their lives.

Lack of Options:  HTV WOP  Young women wishing to leave the sex industry often believe nobody would want to give them a chance.  They may not feel they can return to the home environments they left, it’s unlikely they have trusted friends who they can turn to for help, and they are probably unaware of community resources that are equipped to assist them in their transition out of the sex industry.

Girls who enter the sex industry may bear some measure of culpability in their own demise. But before we disown them, it’s important to examine the full picture and look at the possible reasons for their behaviour. By understanding why they entered the sex industry and what keeps them there, we can formulate a more effective response.  The above list is meant to help give clarity to those seeking to help end the exploitation of a daughter, a friend, or a client.  With the appropriate support, the possibility of exiting and recovery becomes much more realistic. While the past cannot be undone, there is always hope for future achievements. And there is great joy in seeing a young person experience healing, and embracing life as a survivor.

* Adolescent girls are most at risk for entry into the sex industry. With that in mind, I use the terms “girls” and “young women” throughout this document. This information is also very applicable to women, but may be less pertinent to preadolescent children.  

** Taken from the preamble to Canada’s prostitution legislation, Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, 2014.

Click for a printable copy of THE 20 Reasons.

Her elation was impossible to contain as her former pimp was cuffed and sent off to a federal penitentiary.  But the excitement was less about seeing a bad guy going to jail, and more about closure to a long and painful process. 

MET Partner, Eduarda, coordinates the “Stepping Out” mentoring program for young women exiting the sex industry.     www.havenontheq.com

Last summer Men Ending Trafficking began assembling a team to stand with this young lady.  When she bravely took the witness stand last October, we were there to protect, show our support and pray.  We listened as she told the court how she became a victim of human trafficking.  Our hearts sank when she described what it was like, and how it changed her.  Each of us was profoundly impacted by the experience.                             

Her impact statement began with the words “Please Burn After Reading”.  It was not to say she wanted her mental and physical scars to be kept secret, but that she didn’t want to hold onto them.  Daily, she strives to push past impediments that linger from exploitation in the sex industry; that she envisions a day when the remnant of the abuse will be nothing more than ashes at her feet.

Seeing their friend lead away to his punishment provoked a very different response from a dozen men and women whose loyalty remains with the convict.  Clearly, the context of their relationship with the man was something different.  As they left the court room, some hurled obscenities at the young lady whose testimony was the obvious clincher; the very reason a guilty verdict was possible.  The group, then, assembled in front of the courthouse and waited.  Although our young friend had four men and four women by her side, the crown attorney insisted on a police escort to the parking lot.

The incident on the day of sentencing wasn’t the first we had encountered.  But then, threatening behavior seems almost part and parcel of human trafficking trials.  It’s no wonder that testifying under these circumstances so easily results in a sense of failure and re-victimization. But for our young friend, it brought a personal victory that is helping her let go of the past.  –Please Burn After Reading–  

MET extends thanks to all those who volunteered their time to surround this brave young lady with much needed support.  We also gratefully acknowledge  partnership from The Haven, White Rose, Sextrade 101, SafeHope Home and Rising Angels.

I can only speculate as to the true weight of that one word on the accused as he sat motionless in the court room.

To my young friend, who was a “victim-witness” in the human trafficking case, that same word carried a lot of weight, as well.  It meant that a person with real power and authority believed her voice was as important as any other –that her life was as important as any other. It meant that he had listened carefully to all she had said on the stand. It also meant that any weight that might have remained, in the wake of the trial, was now forever lifted from her shoulders.

Before heading off to his chambers, the judge quickly scanned our group. We were nine of the men and women that had walked in support of our young friend during the court process. But when he found her, he stopped. His look softened, and began to give way to a smile. There was no question that he had been impacted by her strength and character; we all had been. And, just maybe, it was a good and encouraging day for him, as well.

——–

Watch CTV coverage of the first day in court and our interview on 100 Huntley Street.

To learn more about MET’s Vulnerable Witness Program:  john.cassells@gmail.com