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More than 200 people took to city streets Saturday to denounce a problem they say most Ottawans don’t realize is happening in their community, but which desperately needs to be eradicated: Human trafficking.
The march took place against a backdrop of heated political debate in recent months over the appropriate response to prostitution, and whether the majority of the sex trade is exploitive or consensual.
Participants in Saturday’s inaugural Freedom Walk, organized by the anti-human trafficking group Free Them, were unified in condemning sexual exploitation and the need to help those who are victimized.
Before taking to the streets, participants gathered at the Ottawa Convention Centre where they heard from human trafficking victim Simone Bell, Ottawa police detective Carolyn Botting, and federal Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney.
Each said that, contrary to popular belief, human trafficking is not isolated to developing countries.
Emcee Ken Evraire gets Freedom Walk participants pumped and ready inside Convention Centre in downtown Ottawa, Saturday, September 27, 2014. Anti-human trafficking organizations are celebrating their fifth annual Freedom Walk, but first in Ottawa. They raise funds and hope to increase awareness to fight human trafficking, a growing problem in Canada (and around the world).
“Every time I do any presentations, I always get (people saying) ‘I didn’t know that happened in Canada,’” said Bell, who spoke briefly of her experiences as a sex worker and human trafficking victim. “They think this is an Eastern European problem, or that it happens over there. But it’s happening to our children.”
Blaney referenced a report published by an Ottawa-based anti-trafficking group in July that suggested there were as many as 140 victims of human trafficking in Ottawa in the past year. That is considerably more than the number of cases that resulted in arrests or criminal trials.
Related
The speakers also blasted what they saw as society’s misguided mindset when it comes to human trafficking, with the perpetrators called pimps and glorified in popular culture, while the victims are labelled prostitutes and derided.
“This is a call for awareness, a call for social change,” Blaney said. “There has to be a growing awareness of fighting against forced labour and sexual exploitation.”
“Freedom Walkers” get set to leave from Convention Centre in downtown Ottawa, Saturday, September 27, 2014. Anti-human trafficking organizations are celebrating their fifth annual Freedom Walk, but first in Ottawa. They raise funds and hope to increase awareness to fight human trafficking, a growing problem in Canada (and around the world).
Marchers took to the street shouting “Freedom!” and stating that they were speaking for those who can’t speak for themselves: The human trafficking victims who are ignored by society and too scared or otherwise unable to escape their situations.
Yet there were also clear divisions in the crowd over whether all prostitution amounts to human trafficking, and whether they require similar or different responses from government and law enforcement.
A University of Victoria study published last week found the majority of sex trade workers are comfortable in their profession, and most don’t feel exploited. It also found the age at which most entered the sex industry was around 24, not during their teenage years.
The study’s findings run counter to what the Conservative government has been saying as it’s been pushing proposed legislation on prostitution through Parliament. The legislation, which the government is trying to fast-track into law, is based on the assumption the majority of sex-trade workers are exploited.
Freedom Walk participants Nadia Knebel and her daughters Sophie, age 5, and Anne-Marie in downtown Ottawa, Saturday, September 27, 2014. Anti-human trafficking organizations are celebrating their fifth annual Freedom Walk, but first in Ottawa. They raise funds and hope to increase awareness to fight human trafficking, a growing problem in Canada (and around the world).
Some marchers on Saturday questioned the study’s validity, suggesting those sex trade workers who responded have grown used to the work or they were coerced.
“Maybe that’s been put in their heads, that they’re comfortable,” said marcher Maria Costa. “If you think about it, how would you want to do it?”
“Sometimes you don’t realize you’re speaking from a perspective of fear,” added former Canadian Football League player Ken Evraire, who emceed the event. “Maybe that’s not their voice, that’s the pimp speaking.”
Evraire listed himself among those who considered prostitution and human trafficking “one and the same.”
Freedom Walk participants walk south on Elgin St. in downtown Ottawa, Saturday, September 27, 2014. Anti-human trafficking organizations are celebrating their fifth annual Freedom Walk, but first in Ottawa. They raise funds and hope to increase awareness to fight human trafficking, a growing problem in Canada (and around the world).
But Angèle Godin said there is a “definite distinction between the two,” with prostitution involving a transaction between two consenting adults and human trafficking “something that is being forced.”
While Godin said “overall, I see (prostitution) as wrong, nothing is ever black and white.”
lberthiaume@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/leeberthiaume
查看原文...
The march took place against a backdrop of heated political debate in recent months over the appropriate response to prostitution, and whether the majority of the sex trade is exploitive or consensual.
Participants in Saturday’s inaugural Freedom Walk, organized by the anti-human trafficking group Free Them, were unified in condemning sexual exploitation and the need to help those who are victimized.
Before taking to the streets, participants gathered at the Ottawa Convention Centre where they heard from human trafficking victim Simone Bell, Ottawa police detective Carolyn Botting, and federal Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney.
Each said that, contrary to popular belief, human trafficking is not isolated to developing countries.
Emcee Ken Evraire gets Freedom Walk participants pumped and ready inside Convention Centre in downtown Ottawa, Saturday, September 27, 2014. Anti-human trafficking organizations are celebrating their fifth annual Freedom Walk, but first in Ottawa. They raise funds and hope to increase awareness to fight human trafficking, a growing problem in Canada (and around the world).
“Every time I do any presentations, I always get (people saying) ‘I didn’t know that happened in Canada,’” said Bell, who spoke briefly of her experiences as a sex worker and human trafficking victim. “They think this is an Eastern European problem, or that it happens over there. But it’s happening to our children.”
Blaney referenced a report published by an Ottawa-based anti-trafficking group in July that suggested there were as many as 140 victims of human trafficking in Ottawa in the past year. That is considerably more than the number of cases that resulted in arrests or criminal trials.
Related
- Research identifies 140 human trafficking victims in Ottawa
- Q&A: Anti-human trafficking rally comes to Ottawa
The speakers also blasted what they saw as society’s misguided mindset when it comes to human trafficking, with the perpetrators called pimps and glorified in popular culture, while the victims are labelled prostitutes and derided.
“This is a call for awareness, a call for social change,” Blaney said. “There has to be a growing awareness of fighting against forced labour and sexual exploitation.”
“Freedom Walkers” get set to leave from Convention Centre in downtown Ottawa, Saturday, September 27, 2014. Anti-human trafficking organizations are celebrating their fifth annual Freedom Walk, but first in Ottawa. They raise funds and hope to increase awareness to fight human trafficking, a growing problem in Canada (and around the world).
Marchers took to the street shouting “Freedom!” and stating that they were speaking for those who can’t speak for themselves: The human trafficking victims who are ignored by society and too scared or otherwise unable to escape their situations.
Yet there were also clear divisions in the crowd over whether all prostitution amounts to human trafficking, and whether they require similar or different responses from government and law enforcement.
A University of Victoria study published last week found the majority of sex trade workers are comfortable in their profession, and most don’t feel exploited. It also found the age at which most entered the sex industry was around 24, not during their teenage years.
The study’s findings run counter to what the Conservative government has been saying as it’s been pushing proposed legislation on prostitution through Parliament. The legislation, which the government is trying to fast-track into law, is based on the assumption the majority of sex-trade workers are exploited.
Freedom Walk participants Nadia Knebel and her daughters Sophie, age 5, and Anne-Marie in downtown Ottawa, Saturday, September 27, 2014. Anti-human trafficking organizations are celebrating their fifth annual Freedom Walk, but first in Ottawa. They raise funds and hope to increase awareness to fight human trafficking, a growing problem in Canada (and around the world).
Some marchers on Saturday questioned the study’s validity, suggesting those sex trade workers who responded have grown used to the work or they were coerced.
“Maybe that’s been put in their heads, that they’re comfortable,” said marcher Maria Costa. “If you think about it, how would you want to do it?”
“Sometimes you don’t realize you’re speaking from a perspective of fear,” added former Canadian Football League player Ken Evraire, who emceed the event. “Maybe that’s not their voice, that’s the pimp speaking.”
Evraire listed himself among those who considered prostitution and human trafficking “one and the same.”
Freedom Walk participants walk south on Elgin St. in downtown Ottawa, Saturday, September 27, 2014. Anti-human trafficking organizations are celebrating their fifth annual Freedom Walk, but first in Ottawa. They raise funds and hope to increase awareness to fight human trafficking, a growing problem in Canada (and around the world).
But Angèle Godin said there is a “definite distinction between the two,” with prostitution involving a transaction between two consenting adults and human trafficking “something that is being forced.”
While Godin said “overall, I see (prostitution) as wrong, nothing is ever black and white.”
lberthiaume@ottawacitizen.com
Twitter.com/leeberthiaume
查看原文...
