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DEC12.2O13 • UWINDSORLANCE.CA/NEWS //
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Tackling modern slavery in Windsor man trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation in Canada and the United States.”
Windsor law enforcement, welfare workers, social workers, and more were part of an intensive five day anti-human trafficking training course at the Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society last week.
“The research we’ve done has revealed that there are cases here in Windsor involving human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation of men, women, and children,” said Sapoznik. “The myth is that these victims are from abroad, but about 70% of the cases that we’ve seen from across Canada to date have actually been of our own domestic citizens.”
The course, titled “Understanding and Working with Children and Youth who have been Sexually Exploited/Trafficked” and hosted by the Alliance Against Modern Slavery (AAMS) was designed following the release of the 2013 Global Slavery Index by the Walk Free Foundation that estimated an approximate 5,600 to 6,200 people are enslaved in Canada. AAMS President Karlee Sapoznik said the course was brought to Windsor to bring awareness to the issue, but also to respond to the modern slavery that exists in the Windsor region, hidden from plain sight. “This training brings together key sectors in the community to learn from one another, help draw awareness, and identify next steps in order to coordinate an effective response to human trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation, which is alive and well in Windsor,” said Sapoznik. Sapoznik said that it was important to bring the course to the Windsor community because “Windsor is a key source, transit, and destination hub for hu-
The RCMP’s 2010 report entitled ‘Human Trafficking in Canada: A Threat Assessment’ states that, “Recent convictions of human trafficking have mostly involved victims who are citizens and/or permanent residents of Canada trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation.” “Many of these individuals are actually from Windsor when it comes to the sex trafficking issue,” said Sapoznik. “The other two forms that we’re seeing of human trafficking in Windsor are trafficking for forced labour, which is quite big out by Leamington, ... and trafficking for the purpose of forced marriage.” She said that most Canadians aren’t aware of the modern human trafficking that happens under their very noses. “It’s pretty mind boggling,” said Sapoznik. “It’s something that we need to start drawing awareness to. The RCMP estimates that only about 5% of Canadians know about human trafficking, so part of this training is to
the Internet sites are “responsible for a lot of what is happening indoors,” according to AAMS President Karlee Sapoznik • screenshot of a trafficking site
TRAVISFAUTEUX news editor __________________________
change that.” 90 percent of the course’s curriculum was written by survivors of sexual exploitation. Internationally recognized slavery expert and survivor Jennifer Richardson facilitated the weeklong course. Richardson said that child welfare legislation in Ontario should be changed to allow intervention in cases where “third party offenders are abusing children, as other provinces in Canada has [sic] done,” according to a statement. “Child welfare legislation can be extremely effective in disrupting this type of crime,” said Richardson. “When social workers are given the right training and are working under effective legislation that allows them to intervene in cases in which children have been trafficked, they can be a huge asset to criminal investigations and to the long term support that these children need.” Sapoznik said that if there is a victim who is 16 or 17 years-old in Ontario, there is no mandate for intervention by a child welfare worker to ensure that the person is being exploited. “From what we can kind of glean, that is the most problematic area in Windsor because the police can’t do anything if they see a 16 or 17 year-old who is being exploited,” explained Sapoznik. A finding published in the RCMP’s assessment says that domestic victims have mostly
been “recruited through the Internet or by an acquaintance.” The report further states, “The victims were groomed, manipulated, and coerced to enter the sex trade.” Sapoznik stressed the role of Internet sites like Facebook and Craigslist in recruiting victims. She said that Windsor Backpage is a website that is “responsible for a lot of what is happening indoors.” “You’ll see all kinds of pictures. Some of these individuals are definitely adult women, but even police look at the bodies and ... in some of the pictures you can tell it’s definitely a girl under 18 years old. They won’t show their
faces in that case because they’re concerned they might be recognized,” said Sapoznik. Sapoznik said that, although it depends on the demographic, there are certain signs that could indicate that a child is being exploited.
“You might see, all of a sudden, their clothing might change. They might smell differently. Coming in [or leaving] at different hours... They may be online a lot more or closing their bedroom door,” said Sapoznik. “One of the biggest signs of vulnerability is if they are missing school.”
If you can walk and talk you can go to Brock, but you can’t record their council meetings JAYVERSPEELT lance reporter __________________________ On Dec. 3, the Brock University Student Administrative Council (BUSAC) voted seven for, five against and 17 abstentions to ban video camera recording during its council meetings, with exception to presentations. The reason for the ban was presented as councillors may be too shy to speak on an issue if they knew they were being recorded. Minutes are taken at the meetings, but councillors and journalists alike have said that students may not be finding them and minutes are lacking in detail. Video is a fast and a non-editorial way of presenting events. Sandor Ligetfalvy, an independent journalist, host of the
Brock University radio show Point of View and founding member of the Brock University Gadfly (The BUG) asked what authority the council had to stop the recordings of it’s meetings. BUSAC Faculty of Math and Science councillor Andrew Kemble responded, “Standing order says videotaping is not allowed in council chambers. The idea behind this is simple, I want to increase discussion. If a video camera might limit somebody from talking and sharing their opinion then I do not want the camera in the room,” said Kemble. The response on The BUG was enormous, with an increase from 25 hits a day to 400 as his video was shared out across the grapevine according to Ligetfalvy.
“It’s mostly telling to me to see that the executive abstained,” said Ligetfalvy. “They’re paid for by the undergraduate public and are accountable to what they say. Execs ran a referendum last month using transparency as one of the key terms, I find this undermines the campaign rhetoric when those people couldn’t go on the record and say why they didn’t support video cameras in meetings.” Kemble declined a full interview put provided two statements to the Lance. “In terms of questioning of other councillors, none was done ahead of time, to tell them in advance this was coming. The use of video cameras in our council chamber, to my knowledge, is a relatively new thing. They were used on one other occasion, to which every piece of feedback I received on council was about
how uncomfortable the other councillors felt talking,” reads the statement. That night, Brock TV had been invited to cover the meeting and were forced to turn off their cameras less that halfway through the night. In the video recording of the meeting, Brock TV cameraman Adam Marshall responded “This is a f*cking joke.” Kemble in his second statement said the decision was not to subvert democracy but the move has been seen as such. “I find it unfortunate that this has been the interpretation of the motion and that there is no way for me to rectify it until January. That being said, I have already submitted a motion to change the standing rules of order,” reads his statement. University of Windsor Students
Alliance (UWSA) President Rob Crawford, whose organization has seen much controversy in the past, weighed in on the events. “I don’t agree with that,” said Crawford. “It’s a public meeting, people are entitled to disseminate that information as they please, if someone wants to come into our council meetings and record them I have no problem with that.” Crawford said that the move indeed sounded like subversion of democracy and that he would call into question why they are silencing people and how such a move would even be possible with the ubiquity of smartphones. Crawford also expressed interest in the idea of the Lance live streaming the UWSA’s own council meetings.