Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking of
Aboriginal Women and Girls
By Teresa Edwards,
IAHR Director
January 2015
Road Map
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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
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.
Limitations
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Time
Interviews - trauma
Help hotline phone number
Sample size
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)
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)
Why are Aboriginal women
and girls more vulnerable
and at risk?
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
Increased Risk/ Vulnerabilities
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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
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)
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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
Health Risks
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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
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)
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, overrepresentation in justice systems, and higher
incidence of substance misuse and sexual
exploitation”
(Blackstock ,2010)
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
“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.
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)
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Isolation, poverty, homelessness
Violence
Familial aspect (people they know), praise, & lures
Education (lack of)
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:
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Hitchhiking
Addictions
Unsafe housing or homelessness
Prostitution and the sex trade
Gang involvement
Trafficking/sexual exploitation
Abusive relationships
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.
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.
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.
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
Prevention
• Education & awareness
• Healthy, stable environments
• Economic, housing, & support options
• The Aboriginal community
What Have We Learned ?
“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)
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)
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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
Effective Supports
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Judgement free
Understanding
Staffed by survivors
Designed with experiential women input
Long-term
Flexible treatment
Harm reduction
Culturally appropriate
Gender appropriate
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
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
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
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).
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)
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
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
Recommendations, pt. 4
Policy
• Acknowledgement and recognition; honor Indigenous
knowledge; recognize diversity among Aboriginal
peoples; establish national strategy; bridge the policypractice gap; alliance between Aboriginals and nonAboriginals; emphasis prevention over reaction;
culturally relevant services; capacity building of NGOs;
capacity building in Aboriginal communities (Sethi,
2007)
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
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
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.
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
tedwards@nwac.ca
613-722-3033 x 235