(Photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / ibreakstock)(Photo courtesy of © Can Stock Photo / ibreakstock)
Midwestern

Human trafficking not just an urban issue

There have been seven victims of human trafficking in Huron County in the last 14 months.

A crowd of almost 100 people packed into a small library at Goderich District Collegiate Institute learned about the statistic at the final info session on human trafficking held by Victim Services Huron County.

Four of the victims were high school age, and all were raised in Huron County.

The session was the finale of a triple-feature, the first two held earlier this month in Wingham and Exeter.    Attendees learned that human trafficking has crept north out of the large cities, and the people of Midwestern Ontario are still largely unaware of what to look for in victims.

Lead Crisis Responder Human Trafficking Case Manager Jenn Evans said 65% of all human trafficking cases in Canada are in Ontario, and perpetrators have spread out more into rural areas, away from Toronto, London and Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo.

Evans talked about the stages of human trafficking (luring, grooming, coercion & exploitation), and how more attention is needed to educate the public on what they can do to stop it.

Victim Services Huron County Executive Director Deborah Logue said the three sessions were aimed at “openly discussing consent, and what a healthy relationship looks like”, and noted there is a “lack of knowledge of what [human trafficking] looks like in rural areas”.

Logue notes she is happy Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson was named minister of education, because “she is very rural-minded, and understands the roots of Huron-Bruce”, and has requested a meeting to clear up some of the uncertainty and challenges presented to Victim Services by provincial government scrapping the 2015 sex ed curriculum, which included topics such as consent, cybersafety and gender identity.

Logue said she “understands the Progressive Conservatives are looking at options, but this is why we are requesting an audience with Lisa Thompson, to discuss exactly what we’re talking about”.

Those looking to have their say during the ongoing consultations on Ontario Education are encouraged to visit yourschools.ca/announcements/consultations-on-education-reform.

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