1. Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of Aboriginal Women and Girls
By Teresa Edwards,
IAHR Director
January 2015

2. Road Map Literature Review - Limitations Statistics: A Snapshot
Why are Aboriginal women and girls more vulnerable and at risk?
Typical Experience: In The Life – PTSD
Impacts of IRS
Recruitment
Survey Results
Prevention
What Have We Learned: Needs, Exit Strategies & Effective Supports
Gaps in the Research
Law & Practice
Recommendations

3. Literature Review / Research
In March - May 2013, NWAC completed a literature review on the state of sexual exploitation and human trafficking of Aboriginal women and girls in Canada.
This review examines relevant research, legislation and regulations in Canada and internationally, as well as related reports to examine, review, analyze, and subsequently report on, relevant research from 1998 – 2012.
In May 2013, NWAC conducted Key Informant interviews and also collected data from experiential Aboriginal women via survey monkey.

4. Limitations Time Interviews - trauma Help hotline phone number
Sample size
In all we had from March to May to review over 50 pieces of literature
The nature of interviews is that there are cancellations, unavailabilities, missed phone calls
The difficult nature of the subject also complicated finding relevant participants
The help hotline phone number was not functional across all of Canada

5. Statistics: a snapshot
Aboriginal women and youth comprise up to 90% of the visible sex trade (Save the Children, 2000).
In Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Aboriginal women account for nearly 80% of survival sex trade workers (Burgelhaus, M. and M. Stokl, Sheway, 2005)
4 out of 5 women in Aboriginal Communities will be sexually abused
82% of Aboriginal women involved in the sex trade are in need of urgent drug and alcohol treatment
80-90% of Aboriginal mothers in Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon are single mothers and live below the poverty level (RCAP 2006 from 2001 Census)

6. Stats from the literature
70% of the street prostitutes were Aboriginal women under the age of 26 (Currie, 2000)
30% of sex workers that they surveyed identified as being Indigenous women (PACE Society, 2000)
52% out of 100 sexually exploited and trafficked women interviewed in Vancouver Downtown Eastside, BC identified as being First Nations (Farley, Lynne and Cotton, 2005)
“Studies on human trafficking in Canada conclude that the majority of people trafficked within Canada are Aboriginal women and children victims of sex trafficking” (Barrett, 2010)
“Vancouver, BC; Ottawa, ON; and Winnipeg, MB as major centers for the sexual trafficking of Aboriginal women and children” (Pierce, 2012)

7. Why are Aboriginal women and girls more vulnerable and at risk?

8. Increased Risk/ Vulnerabilities
Dysfunctional home environment / family violence
Previous experience of sexual exploitation & forms of abuse as a child
Ongoing inter-generational impacts of IRS
Systemic discrimination / colonization
Race- and gender-based discrimination
Lack of formal education
Extreme poverty, financial hardship
Homelessness
Migration

9. Increased Risk/ Vulnerabilities
Lack of employment opportunities
Lack of support networks
Low self-esteem
History of child welfare system
Drugs & substance abuse / addictions
Lack of basic needs being met / survival needs
History of family in prostitution
Remote / rural community
Lack of cultural identity
Many participants said they came from unstable homes (Kingsley & Mark, 2001; Farley, Lynne, & Cotton, 2005; Seshia, 2005)
Unstable homes made other challenges greater – difficult to succeed in school – lack of knowledge of healthy living – low self-esteem
Some turned to drugs – a path through which some are later exploited;
Some moved in with people for basic food and shelter – in turn were abused for these
Some felt abuse was normalized – multiple victims and victimizers in extended family – sex trafficking seemed next step
Lack of employment skills meant a turn to trafficking for income
Moving to cities, without support network, or support programs or employable skills, they become more vulnerable to exploitation
(Kingsley & Mark, 2001; Urban Native Youth Association, 2002; Seshia, 2005; Sethi, 2007)

10. Aboriginal children
52.1% of all Aboriginal children live in extreme poverty
53% of children on social workers caseloads are aboriginal and are 12.5 times more likely to be in care than non-aboriginal children
Children from indigenous or ethnic minority populations are also frequently at greater risk [of commercial sexual exploitation] due to the harmful effects of systemic discrimination and social breakdown.
(Save the Children, 2000) .
Save the Children Canada. (2000). Year one: Out of the shadows and into the light: A project to address the commercial sexual exploitation of girls and boys in Canada first year end report. Vancouver, BC: Save the Children Canada

11. Typical experiences: In the life
Farley, Lynne and Cotton (2005) reported on prostitution in Vancouver. The following data is a comparison between First Nations participants (52%) and non-First Nations participants (48%).
96% reported childhood sexual abuse vs. 82% by non-FNs
81% reported childhood physical abuse vs. 58% by non-FNs
88% experienced physical assault while in prostitution vs. 89% non-FNs
92% experienced rape in prostitution vs. 92% of non-FNs.
83% reported homelessness vs. 87% of non-FNs
This is a snapshot meant to give insight to the typical background and experiences of many types of violence Aboriginal women endure

12. Health Risks Physical and Mental health conditions HIV and other STD”s
PTSD and trauma
Chronic health conditions (respiratory illness, bronchitis and pneumonia)
Substance abuse and addictions
Reproductive health problems
Increased risk of violence
A recent study by Farley et al (2005) linking intergenerational effects of colonization and trauma to systemic poverty and health disparities shows the devastating impact of injection drug use and survival sex work on the health of Aboriginal women, particularly in relation to risk factors for HIV. To illustrate, 90% of Aboriginal sex-trade workers reported being raped by their clients, and 72% reported that they have had clients refuse to wear condoms. There experiences alone place Aboriginal sex-trade workers at high risk for HIV infection.

13. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Out of 100 participants, including both First Nations and non-First Nations, 72% qualified for PSTD which is “among the highest reported in populations where PTSD has been studied, including battered women, combat veterans, childhood trauma survivors, rape survivors, and torture survivors”
(Farley, Lynne, & Cotton, 2005, p. 255)

14. Indian Residential School (IRS)
“Placing [First Nations] children in foster care has been linked with many of the same tragic outcomes as children who attended residential schools such as cultural and linguistic erosion, poorer educational outcomes, over-representation in justice systems, and higher incidence of substance misuse and sexual exploitation” (Blackstock ,2010)

15. Impact of IRS experience
Forced loss of culture, language and traditional values, sexual abuse, difficulty bonding with others and in forming relationships, lack of parenting and life skills, loss of self-respect/respect for others, use of drugs and alcohol to cope with painful memories
More than 40% of Aboriginal women in prison have been to IRSs; more than that have been placed in care or have parents who went to IRS

16. “Over-Policed & Under-Protected”
Aboriginal Peoples in the justice system are classified as higher risk and higher need.
One out of three (33.1%) new female offenders in the federal corrections system are Aboriginal.
Disproportionate number of missing and murdered women in Canada are Aboriginal.

17. Recruitment
”Instead of the question, ‘Did she voluntarily consent to prostitution?’ the more relevant question would be: ‘Did she have real alternatives to prostitution for survival?’” (Farley et al., 2003)
Isolation, poverty, homelessness
Violence
Familial aspect (people they know), praise, & lures
Education (lack of)
86% of 100 sexually trafficked women in Vancouver study were either currently homeless or had been homeless (Farley, Lynne, Cotton, 2005) (52% of these women were Aboriginal)
Aboriginal women and girls are forced into prostitution through isolation, poverty, homelessness, cycles of abuse
Sethi (2007): some people from Aboriginal community call traffickers in advance to let them know a potentially vulnerable Aboriginal woman is moving to the city
Lack of education leads to a lack of employable skills.
Ultimately, they are pursued, they have already been in cycles of abuse, and they are isolated, with few to no options.

18. Trends have been identified that show that Aboriginal girls are forced into situations or to use coping strategies that increase their vulnerability to violence, such as:
Hitchhiking
Addictions
Unsafe housing or homelessness
Prostitution and the sex trade
Gang involvement
Trafficking/sexual exploitation
Abusive relationships

19. Survey Results
50% of those surveyed were first recruited between the ages of 9-14, 1 participant was under 9 yrs when recruited.
85.7% were sexually abused, raped or molested before being sexually exploited or trafficked.
100% answered that they were expected to do everything the men wanted.

20. Survey Results pt. 2
85.7% of participants had to do things they were not comfortable doing.
Many participants indicated they were forced to have sex with professionals including Doctors, Judges, Police, and Social workers.
42.9% were not allowed to come and go freely.
85.7% said that they sometimes, often and always tried to resist and leave their situation.

21. Survey Results pt. 3
If caught trying to leave, 71.4% were beaten, 57% were locked up, 71.4% faced increased debt – higher quota, 43% were drugged or withheld food and water.
50% were not allowed contact with family or friends.
75% did not get to keep any of the earnings.

22. Survey Results pt. 4
71.4% did not abuse drugs, alcohol and other substances BEFORE
71.4% abused drugs, alcohol and other substances DURING
Only 14.3 % are currently abusing drugs, alcohol and other substances
85.7% of bosses were involved in criminal activity

23. Prevention Education & awareness Healthy, stable environments
Economic, housing, & support options
The Aboriginal community
Education and awareness is aimed at potential victims, victimizers, and the wider community
Research advocates educating people on what is healthy touching (for victims), and signs to look for (people in positions of authority)
Also educate people on the true prevalence and damaging impact of sexual exploitation to increasing understanding of the issue
Provide these people with real alternatives and their likelihood to engage in being sexually exploited will drop
But they need training/education, soft skills training, safe housing, and programs of support, in rural and urban centres
There are many who said Aboriginal communities as a community need to work on being healthier, need more support.
These will help break the cycle of abuse and prevent sexual exploitation of Aboriginal women and girls

24. What Have We Learned ?

25. “What do you need?” 88% drug or alcohol treatment 78% job training
67% individual counseling
63% self-defense training
61% home or safe place
53% peer support
41% medical/health care
33% legal assistance
24% legalized prostitution
16% childcare
4% physical protection from pimp
(Sexually exploited Aboriginal women’s answer, Farley, Lynne, & Cotton, 2005)
This is the lead-in slide to exiting the trade.
These are what Aboriginal experiential women answered from Farley, Lynne, & Cotton’s 2005 paper
Out of 100 experiential survivor women, 52 were Aboriginal women
These percentages are from the Aboriginal women’s answers only (no non-Aboriginal answer data involved)

26. Exit strategies & support
“’People don’t heal overnight. It took seventeen years to get all the shit inside of you and it’s probably going to take twenty years to get it out of you’” (Experiential woman from Seshia, 2005)
What works (flexible services; judgement free; understanding; long term
Survivors make the best health-recruits
Education
Opportunities & support
Long term programs with reliable support
Adequate housing
Aboriginal or not, most sexually exploited women involved in the research wanted out of the trade
They also lacked the means, support, and options to exit
Hands down, one of the best things for supporting these women is by employing Aboriginal experiential survivors to work with them
They need education: both for job training and general social skills training
They need real, viable alternatives to prostitution; they need support to make the transition to a healthier life possible
95% of interviewees stated that they would leave prostitution if they had another alternative for economic survival. (Farley et al., 2005)

27. Effective Supports Judgement free Understanding Staffed by survivors
Designed with experiential women input
Long-term
Flexible treatment
Harm reduction
Culturally appropriate
Gender appropriate
Programs such as TERF, Sage House, & Dream Catcher (All out west) use the above characteristics
Understanding in this context means understand they may relapse, don’t expect abstinence
Survivors repeated cited as one of the most effective ways to provide services and outreach that CONNECTS
Survivors make great role models
Programs designed with input from experiential women demonstrate equality and empowerment
Long-term is what it will take to heal from long cycles of abuse
Flexible means open to multiple traumas that need dealing with, not just ‘drug abuse’ or ‘physical abuse’ etc.
Harm reduction means help them reduce harmful practices over time, don’t advocate a cold turkey approach to quitting
(Seshia, 2005; Ursel, Proulx, Dean, & Costello, 2007)

28. Gaps in the research Overly focused on Western Canada
Findings on Aboriginal women and girls are often incidental
No longitudinal research on support programs
Lack of recent research in Aboriginal communities
Most of the research was focused on prairie provinces and BC.
Difficult to see a picture of the national context when most research done in west.
Often times this research is not targeting Aboriginal women
This limits the research usefulness because
A ) it lacks a focused pursuit of Aboriginal issues; which in turn leads to
B) it limits the discussion and value of the findings and recommendations.
We need focused research that focuses on Aboriginal women and girls
A lot of the research is focused on urban areas.
This is valid, but rural Aboriginal communities have important sexual exploitation issues, too
(Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights, 2011; Kingsley & Mark, 2001; UNYA, 2002; Barrett, 2010; Saraceno, 2010).

29. Gaps from the research, pt. 1
Lack of services that are Aboriginal specific
Too many obstacles for young Aboriginals attempting to get help
Rigidity of program services
Lack of participation in program development from experiential women
Shortage of culturally-relevant programs for Aboriginal women and girls.
Unrealistic hours (9-5), age requirements, needing to produce ID, child care costs money or isn’t provided, unwilling to admit those under the influence of substances, inaccessible unless you have access to transportation
(many of these come from the Urban Native Youth Association Manual)
Rigidity of program services refers to a ‘closed lens’ view of treatment: “We deal with drug use, not sex exploitation”
In reality those being abused are usually suffering a multitude of traumas.
Many programs are top-down, expert driven.
Need to involve experiential women in the design of these programs

30. Gaps from the research, pt. 2
Lack of sufficient and reliable funding for supports
Lack of data on a national level
Lack of supports in rural Aboriginal communities
Lack of capacity for running support services and doing research into the exploitation in Aboriginal communities
These programs and services are under funded and unreliably funded.
There are not enough of them, sufficiently supported, to do the job of support and treatment as it needs to be done.
Researchers say: lack of a national-reaching exploration into Aboriginal women and girls’ sexual exploitation.
This limits our understanding of the issue and hampers effective addressment at a legal, policy level
Limits knowledge of effective provincial and local initiatives.
The last two were repeatedly told to the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights (2011).
Witnesses from advocacy agencies and communities said: Aboriginal communities need capacity support.
They need more research, support for that research, and partnership to help carry out that research to address locally what is happening in their communities.

31. Law and Practice Bill C-49
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Human Trafficking National Coordination Centre (HTNCC);
British Columbia’s Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons (OCTIP);
National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking (NAPCH); and
Manitoba’s development of the Child Sexual Exploitation and Human Trafficking Act (Act).
All of this content comes from Niki’s paper if that helps
Bill C-49 problematic: largely frames human trafficking for sexual exploitation as an import-related crime
3 measures do not focus or relate strongly to domestic trafficking of unique contexts sometimes occurring in Aboriginal communities (exchanging sex for food and shelter)
RCMP: lack of focus and funding in their initiatives for Aboriginal contexts
OCTIP: good public educating model – engages with Aboriginal communities and organizations; emphasizes importance for Aboriginal communities
Criticism: lacks strategic plan to address sexual exploitation for Aboriginal people
NAPCH: confesses knowledge gap on human trafficking for Aboriginal communities; suggests more engagement with Aboriginal organizations
Manitoba’s Act: helps exploited women take trafficker to court; can be difficult to employ in Aboriginal contexts (family members; food/shelter); requires abused woman to take initiative; also requires lawyer and money – they don’t have it

32. Recommendations
“The first step in addressing domestic trafficking of Aboriginal girls is to acknowledge the seriousness of the problem” (Seshia, 2007)
“Because of the complexity of the trafficking situation for Aboriginal communities, any one anti-trafficking practice will be insufficient to solve the problem on its own” (Barrett, 2010)
These recommendations in Notes are from Teresa’s original presentation.
- Implementation of internationally recognized human rights standards in the application of policing and criminal law, including mechanisms to monitor adherence, and that investigate misconduct or discrimination against Aboriginal women and girls in relation to policing, courts, custody, and the right to full investigation of crimes and violence against them.
- Increased support for First Nations and community problem solving courts, and gender specific diversion programs.
- Sustained supportive services and supportive housing for Aboriginal women and girls who are homeless, dealing with impacts of residential school trauma, including violence, mental health and addictions issues.
Increased awareness and the implementation of Gladue principles, which states that “all available sanctions other than imprisonment that are reasonable in the circumstances should be considered for all offenders, with particular attention to the circumstances of aboriginal offenders.“
- A National Plan to be developed to improve the lives of Aboriginal women and families.
- Increased collaboration between correctional institutions, schools, social service agencies and Aboriginal community based organizations to support better outcomes for women and girls exiting custody.
- Widespread education of all Canadians about the truth of the residential schools’ impacts on First Nations, Inuit and Métis women.
- A commitment of targeted funds to ensure gender-specific recommendations arising from the findings of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission are implemented.
- Inclusion of Aboriginal women in decision making in regards to policies and strategies that will affect the individual and collective rights of Aboriginal Peoples overall.

33. Recommendations, pt. 2 Equality Empowerment Culture
Awareness & education
Economic opportunity
Job skills & life skills
Complex, multifaceted solutions
Initiatives built on cooperation and collaboration with Aboriginal communities and advocacy organizations
These are just some of the key themes in the recommendations.
The next slide moves into specific examples, but many of the recommendations involve some, many, or all of the above.

34. Recommendations, pt. 3 Aboriginal Community
Keep kids in school; Cultural mediators; Survivor-led shelters and transition programs; Strengthening Native culture
Native communities, agencies, & leaders need to be more active in addressing issues of sexual exploitation for Aboriginal people
The first bullet all comes from Barrett, 2010.
Keep them on the path to formal education and help ensure they have economic skills they can use for livelihood.
survivors seem to make the best sex trafficking workers.
People on the streets say: easier to approach and make great role models
Cultural programs that teach and propagate healthy traditional Aboriginal values and practices.
Urban Native Youth Association Manual (2002).
Youth felt that the issue of exploitation was kept too in the dark.
Proper acknowledgement of the seriousness and pervasiveness of this issue

35. Recommendations, pt. 4 Policy
Acknowledgement and recognition; honor Indigenous knowledge; recognize diversity among Aboriginal peoples; establish national strategy; bridge the policy-practice gap; alliance between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals; emphasis prevention over reaction; culturally relevant services; capacity building of NGOs; capacity building in Aboriginal communities (Sethi, 2007)
Sethi’s recommendations come from key informants in her study.
Essentially it is a philosophy of acknowledgement, empowerment, honouring, collaborating, and supporting.
Proper acknowledgement has to be given to the seriousness of Aboriginal women and girls’ sexual exploitation in Canada.
It also cannot be addressed effectively from a top-down approach.
Aboriginal communities need to be engaged and recognized for their knowledge and perspectives on addressing the issues.
They also need supports.
A lot of NGO work is grant-based, and this can be an extremely time-consuming practice for securing funding to continue operations.

36. Recommendations, pt. 5 Awareness campaigns
Education on healthy touching
Education on healthy living
More services aimed at Aboriginal women and girls (culture- and gender-relevant)
Preventative measures
People need to be made aware how pervasive sexual exploitation of Aboriginal women and girls is
People need to know how to spot signs people are abused – teachers, authority figures, etc.
Children and youth need to be taught what is healthy touching – otherwise they may not know it’s not normal
Parents need social skills and parenting skills training to replace what was not passed on from inter-generational impact
There needs to be more supports aimed at the unique culture and gender needs of Aboriginal women and girls
There needs to be a preventative focus, aimed at healing whole communities and families, to break cycle of abuse

37. Conclusion: Intersections of Ethnicity, Sex & Class
Social and economic marginalization of Aboriginal peoples persists.
Government policies undermine the culture and social fabric of Aboriginal communities
contributing to poverty, substance abuse, loss of language, and traditional practices.
Aboriginal women continue to face racism and sexism
These, and a multitude of factors, lead to the drastic overrepresentation of Aboriginal women and girls in human trafficking for sexual exploitation in Canada
We need engagement with Aboriginal communities, collaboration, and cooperation
We need it acknowledged in law and policy, across Canada, that this is a huge issue
We need to emphasize preventative measures, which are often in line with decolonization efforts & healing
We need to show understanding and respect to Aboriginal women and girls
We need equality for Aboriginal women and girls

38. Lessons Learned
Need to continue to improve the socio-economic outcomes for Aboriginal women and families.
Policy MUST be informed by evidence.
We can’t do it alone – all levels of government and all justice officials need to work together to develop a coordinated plan.
Leadership at all levels of Government needs to speak out.
Men must take a stand and be part of the solution.
Need for ongoing recognition that this is an issue affecting all Canadians through a National Public Inquiry and implementation of a comprehensive Plan of Action.

39. Wela’lioq Chi-Miigwetch Nia:wen Ko wa Thank you Merci
Teresa Edwards Director of International Affairs and Human Rights, In-House Legal Counsel Native Women’s Association of Canada x 235