Human Trafficking in Hamilton

The Hamilton police human trafficking unit had 36 cases last year, almost all involving local girls or women being coerced into the sex trade.

Yet there were only grounds to make arrests in a few cases — highlighting the challenge detectives face in human trafficking prosecutions where victims are often reluctant to turn on their traffickers or face the scrutiny of a lengthy court process.

"Arrest is not the first priority," said Sgt. Kathy Stewart, who leads two other officers who work full time on Hamilton human trafficking cases.

The real hope is always to rescue victims.

On Friday, Stewart will be one of several speakers at a workshop by the Hamilton Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition (HAHTC) happening at Marquis Gardens on Rymal Road East to mark Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

HAHTC includes around 35 local agencies working collaboratively to end human trafficking. At their inaugural conference last June, they launched a community tool kit — a guide for front-line responders to help victims flee violence.

In Hamilton, and elsewhere, social service agencies often see more human trafficking victims than police do, with few reliable statistics about the true number of victims. Stewart pointed in particular to the local YMCA's Youth in Transition Human Trafficking Initiative — in place since September 2017 — that works with young people under 24 involved in human trafficking.

In one of the cases where police laid charges in 2017, Hamilton police helped secure a recent conviction. Jermayne Henwood pleaded guilty to human trafficking offences and is expected to be sentenced in March, Stewart said.

In two other cases Hamilton police have secured arrest warrants but are still searching for the people accused. This includes Alijah Weir-Mohammed, wanted on charges of assault, forcible confinement, sexual assault, sexual exploitation, human trafficking, threats, theft, mischief, and benefiting from and procuring sexual services.

Police issued a warrant with his photo in December in connection with three local victims trafficked across southern Ontario late last year. Police saw a number of tips come in initially, but Stewart said they're still searching for him and want the public's help.

Some of the work done by human trafficking detectives is proactive — Stewart is constantly checking online sex work advertisements on websites such as LeoList. About four or five times a month they set up "dates" where they book a time with a sex worker, but when she gets to the hotel room, she finds a cop who asks about her safety and gives her resources.

Stewart said she looks for keywords in listings — such as young, new to the area or no restrictions — as possible flags for human trafficking.

Hamilton police see human trafficking happening in every hotel across the region and also say there is now sex trafficking happening at Airbnb rentals.

About 95 per cent of the cases Hamilton police see involve sex trafficking of young Canadian girls or victims, and about 95 per cent of the traffickers are men.

Stewart has only had a few forced labour cases come in, including international victims from Colombia and Mexico where they were sold on a promise of a better life here. In those cases, Hamilton police bring in the RCMP who have more resources dealing with international cases.

There are a number of red flags police, family and the public can look for to spot someone who is being groomed or actively trafficked. Many sex trafficking victims are recruited young — at the mall, high school parties or online — with the perpetrator feigning love.

During this phase, victims are often isolated from friends or family, and are showered with gifts — expensive clothes, visits to hair or nail salons. Victims are then controlled with threats or drugs. They often have their identification seized, won't talk for themselves in public and become more withdrawn.

It's common to see branding tattoos. Stewart has one victim tattooed with her trafficker's full name and another tattoo that reads, "know your worth."

Three years into her work with the unit, Stewart says she's still figuring out the best way to talk victims into leaving their traffickers, into finding safety. These conversations are complicated by addiction, mental health and a victim's fear of what may happen to her — or her family — if she leaves.

"We can't protect them 100 per cent, 24-7, but can get them to safety," she said.

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A coalition of agencies working to end human trafficking in Hamilton has launched its first community tool kit — a two-years-in-the-making guide to better equip front-line responders helping victims flee violence.

Human trafficking takes many forms, from forced labour to organ harvesting, but by far the most common is sexual exploitation. It's a crime that happens regularly in Hamilton, in part because of its proximity to airports and major highway corridors, it's an urban centre and it's close to Indigenous communities, where women and girls are especially at risk.

Yet there are few specialized services in the city, so the Hamilton Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition of 35 agencies formed.

"Unfortunately, Hamilton and Niagara are lacking specialized supports for human trafficking, so if we can equip our existing agencies to respond effectively, then we can do justice for survivors," said Tessa Mcfadzean, assistant director at Good Shepherd Women's Services and the coalition's chair. "Collaboration and community engagement is really important."

The full-day conference in Hamilton on Tuesday was a first for the coalition, culminating in the launch of the 82-page guide that includes information about the prevalence of sex trafficking in Hamilton and what resources are available.

It was presented by its author, Jennifer Lucking, executive director of Restorations, which is working to build second-stage housing for survivors. She called on the community to focus on limiting barriers and to have a "willingness to meet a trafficked person where they're at."

For many survivors, it can take seven to 10 attempts before they actually leave, many being pulled back in though manipulation, violence and a system often ill-equipped to help with the complexity of trafficking victims. The conference heard from two survivors who shared the years of violence they endured and spoke about the "invisible chains" that kept them there.

The event put a particular focus on Indigenous people and young girls, who represent a disproportionate number of sex-trafficking victims. In Canada, the Indigenous population sits at about four per cent, yet more than 50 per cent of sex-trafficking victims are Indigenous women and girls. The average age that all girls are recruited is 12 years old.

Jodi Rock of the Native Women's Centre spoke about the power of language and meeting survivors where they are.

"What you see on the streets is just the tip of the iceberg," she told the conference.

The Native Women's Centre is the only agency in the community with funding for human trafficking-specific shelter beds. This includes five beds through its Healing Sisters program at the Mountain shelter.

Another new resource for the community is Candace Morley, Hamilton YMCA's first youth-in-transition worker, anti-human trafficking, who was hired in September.

So far this year, she's already taken on 50 mostly female clients across the Golden Horseshoe, including 31 in Hamilton. They're 13 to 25 years old, and all say they were sexually trafficked. The needs of each are vast — from reconnecting with family to accessing housing and other social services.

There are several ways a trafficker preys on a victim, from using brute force or threats, to the "Romeo" pimp, who feigns being in love. Morley said it can take them 30 seconds to spot the most vulnerable girl in a group.

She's also noticed more friends coercing other friends into the sex trade.

Loretta Hill-Finamore, director of youth services at Good Shepherd, said she's also noticed a trend of girls with intellectual disabilities being targeted, including one case where a girl was approached on a Hamilton bus.

Most victims do not want to go to the police, but Sgt. Kathy Stewart, a human-trafficking investigator with the Hamilton police vice and drug unit, told the conference they are working to lay charges where possible.

This year the unit is investigating six human-trafficking cases that include three arrests and 17 charges laid.

Stewart said she spends most days looking through online escort ads — the most common way women and girls are trafficked. Victims are also being targeted through social media.

She looks for such key words as "young," and officers work to set up meetings so they can offer help and leave them with phone numbers to call if they're in trouble.

"Every single hotel in Hamilton has escorts working out of it," Stewart said.

Sources
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8668362-human-trafficking-what-you-see-on-the-streets-is-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-/
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9187674-tackling-human-trafficking-in-hamilton/
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/8668362-human-trafficking-what-you-see-on-the-streets-is-just-the-tip-of-the-iceberg-/
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9104619-hamilton-police-still-searching-for-fugitive-wanted-on-human-trafficking-charges/
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9095265-train-bus-stopped-and-searched-for-human-trafficking-suspect/
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9093766-human-trafficking-fugitive-sought-by-hamilton-police/
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9224631-months-long-hunt-for-human-trafficking-suspect-hamilton-police-called-dangerous-ended-in-bowmanville/
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/9222408-human-trafficking-suspect-accused-of-exploiting-girls-as-young-as-14-arrested-in-bowmanville/


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