YWCA wants to find reason behind Nova Scotia’s high human trafficking cases

Statistics Canada data from 2020 shows Nova Scotia has the highest per capita rate of human trafficking in the country

CITYnews\ Chris Stoodley
about 15 hours ago

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As Nova Scotia continues to have the highest per capita rate of human trafficking cases across Canada, the YWCA wants to figure out why that’s the case.

According to Statistics Canada data from 2020, Nova Scotia’s per capita rate of human trafficking sits at one case for every 100,000 people making it the highest in the country. The national average is 0.5 for every 100,000, and Nova Scotia’s cases make up 6 per cent of all cases in Canada.

“It’s actually much more complicated than that,” said YWCA Halifax executive director Miia Suokonautio. “Crime data is only as reliable as people coming forward.”

For instance, cases of domestic violence and sexual assault are typically underreported for several reasons.

“What you have to understand is people will come forward with crime data if they, first of all, believe that they will be heard,” Suokonautio told CityNews Halifax. “Secondly, that they believe that there will be some sort of remedy, that there’s a point of coming forward. And third, that it’s safe to do so.”

Some of the top reasons why people don’t come forward include believing it won’t make a difference, feeling unsafe coming forward or thinking the process will be more difficult than it’s worth.

Suokonautio said the YWCA wants to know whether the number of trafficking cases in Nova Scotia is genuinely higher than other Canadian provinces or if it’s because more people feel comfortable coming forward.

“Crime data is a tricky thing to use as the barometer,” she said. “What many Nova Scotians don’t know is that over the last five to seven years, there’s been a lot of work in our little province to raise awareness [and] familiarity.”

For one, the YWCA launched the Trafficking and Exploitation Services System (TESS) which is a multi-sector inter-agency partnership of more than 180 professionals from over 80 different agencies across Nova Scotia.

Moreover, the non-profit has worked closely with the RCMP and the Halifax Regional Police, and there’s a new Crown prosecutor in Nova Scotia who focuses on human trafficking cases.

Suokonautio said she believes the higher number of human trafficking cases in Nova Scotia is likely attributed to both an actual higher number of cases and a higher number of people feeling comfortable about coming forward with their experiences.

She adds that the YWCA Halifax works on trafficking files with its counterparts across Canada, and she knows that Nova Scotia is “very much ahead of the game.”

Despite a majority of Nova Scotia being rural, she said the YWCA is working with both urban and rural settings, it has more than 180 partners, thousands of front-line staff have been trained and there are dedicated units in the police forces.

“We’ve even changed the curriculum in junior high to build awareness around this,” she said. “So, we’re really hopeful that the higher incidents is also because we’re creating the conditions where people are feeling more likely to come forward.”

In June, the TESS created a new 200-page directory full of information aimed at helping Nova Scotia youth involved in the sex trade, making the resource available across the province.

In February 2020, Nova Scotia also committed to spending $1.4 million over the next five years to support new and current initiatives revolving around human trafficking and sexual exploitation.