In support of the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, in July 2020, the Government of Canada launched a joint call proposals for projects aimed at preventing human trafficking and empowering victims and survivors. As a result, the Government of Canada announced $22.4 million over four years for 63 organizations, focused on providing support services for victims and survivors to assist them in regaining control and independence in their lives.Of this, in 2020-2021, Public Safety Canada provided $5.12 million in funding over four years to 14 human trafficking projects through the Contribution Program to Combat Serious and Organized Crime. Including the organizations and projects below.Two youth hackathons with a combined one-time value of $181,000 to engage youth and find technology-based solutions to combat human trafficking. - Saint Mary's University: Community Hackathon Addressing Human Trafficking in Atlantic Canada, Halifax, Nova Scotia, $54,919
- United Nations Office: DataJam against Human Trafficking in Canada 2021, Vienna, Austria, $125,769
Seven projects for organizations to implement community-based empowerment initiatives valued at $3.45 million over four years with the goal of empowering victims and survivors of human trafficking to regain their independence and prevent re-victimization. - Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture: Recovery and Resilience Anti-Trafficking Project, Toronto, Ontario, $235,802
- Ka Ni Kanichihk: Mush Kow Zee Ikwe Empowerment Project - Strong Woman, Winnipeg, Manitoba, $487,500
- Legal Assistance of Windsor: Migrant Worker Groups, Windsor, Ontario, $283,157
- Ontario Provincial Police: Breaking Barriers, Orillia, Ontario,$467,689
- REACH Edmonton Council: Integrated Response for Victims of Sex Trafficking and Exploitation, Edmonton, Alberta, $498,866
- Salvation Army - B.C. Division: Propel Development Program For Survivors of Human Trafficking, Vancouver, British Columbia, $848, 407
- Voice Found: Hope Found, Ottawa, Ontario, $628,850
Five youth pilot projects valued at $1.48 million over four years to create innovative human trafficking awareness tools for youth at-risk. - Elizabeth Fry Society of Peel-Halton: Empowering Against Exploitation, Brampton, Ontario, $280, 231
- Fleming College: Sex Trafficking Awareness Visuals and Training Materials Targeting Oppressed Female-Identified Young Persons, Peterborough, Ontario, $322,977
- Projet Intervention Prostitution Québec: Lutte et sensibilisation à la traite des personnes chez les jeunes à risque, Québec City, Québec, $200,000
- Victims Services of Durham Region: That's Sus!: Online HT Awareness and Prevention Tool, Whitby, Ontario, $337,460
- Young Women's Christian Association of Moncton: Brave YW, Moncton, New Brunswick, $348,900
Eleven of the organizations that received funding for human trafficking projects through Public Safety's Contribution Program to Combat Serious and Organized Crime are Indigenous-led or provide support to Indigenous populationThe National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking builds on and complements the efforts of Canada's Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence and advances the implementation of the Federal Pathway, the Government of Canada's contribution to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People National Action Plan in response to the National Inquiry's Calls For Justice. In February 2021, the department launched its award-winning human trafficking public awareness campaign. The national campaign informs Canadians and foreign nationals living in Canada, of the signs of both forced labour and sexual exploitation. It targets youth and young adults aged 16-25 years, including Indigenous women and girls. The campaign also targets parents of youth. Given that more than 70 per cent of human trafficking victims are under 25 years old, it is crucial this population learns to recognize the warning signs of human trafficking for themselves and their peers.Public Safety also provides ongoing funding to the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking to administer the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline. The Hotline is a national, multilingual (200 languages, including 27 Indigenous languages), 24/7/365 service and offers referrals to supports and services to victims and survivors.From April 1 to September 30, 2020 approximately 40 tips/reports were provided by the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline to law enforcement and children's aid societies. In that same timeframe, approximately 76 victims and survivors were identified by the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline, and 135 referrals were provided to victims and survivors who contacted the Hotline.FINTRAC continues to prioritize disclosures related to human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation through Project Protect, the flagship public-private partnership. FINTRAC worked closely with Canada's financial institutions to develop and publish an updated Operational Alert in July 2021, Updated Indicators: Laundering of proceeds from human trafficking for sexual exploitation. This updated Operational Alert, alongside the original Alert published in 2016, helps to increase awareness and understanding of money laundering in relation to human trafficking in the sex trade. As part of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime featured an interview of a FINTRAC intelligence analyst on its website. FINTRAC also continued to work closely with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre to share insight and best practices related to Project Protect, and provided presentations to the United Kingdom's National Crime Agency, the Canada Revenue Agency, the Canadian Police College, and the Ontario Police College.Globally, Canada provides support to international partners to counter human trafficking through humanitarian, international development and security assistance, in line with the Feminist Foreign Assistance Policy. This report highlights Canada's contributions to bolster the fight against human trafficking in Central and South America and provide support to victims and survivors. In 2020-21, six projects started or continued to receive funding.The Government is also taking action under the National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking to ensure that procurement supply chains are free from labour exploitation. As part of these efforts, Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) launched a consultation process to update the Code of Conduct for Procurement to outline expectations for suppliers regarding human and labour rights. In addition, a Request for Proposals was issued to conduct a risk assessment of human trafficking, forced labour, and child labour in PSPC's supply chains. The contract was awarded to Rights Lab, a multidisciplinary group with scholarly expertise in human trafficking and supply chain management.
/Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full
here.
