CAS E Human Trafficking Studi es IN ALBERTA Protecting victims and preventing human trafficking through partnerships CONTACT INFORMATION Email info@actalberta.org Phone 780-474-1104 Website www.actalberta.org Twitter @ACTAlberta Facebook ACT Alberta
Human trafficking is a serious crime that happens right here in AlBerta. While this issue has been receiving attention from government, law enforcement, and the general public, the discourse on human trafficking tends to sensationalize and misrepresent its local reality.
The following stories are adapted from real client referrals to ACT Alberta. All names and identifying details have been significantly altered to protect the identities of those involved. Together, we can work towards a more accurate understanding of the realities of human trafficking in Alberta. Note that these stories contain graphic details that may be disturbing to some readers. Within this document you will find the following icons by each story. They indicate the location of the trafficking and type of trafficking that was done in that particular story. Internal (within Canada) victim International victim SEX LaBour Sex trafficking Labour trafficking
Brittney s story I used to hate living at home. As a child, it seemed like my mom would bring home a different guy every week and some of them were awful to me. To make up for her boyfriends, she used to take my sister and me out for ice cream I learned young that my affection was something that could be bought. When I was about 14 I met Tyler online. He seemed nice and interesting. We met up at a park in the city and he became my boyfriend. It was great at first being with Tyler made me feel less lonely and it gave me something to look forward to every day. His friends became my friends and I soon moved out of my home to live with him.
SEX LaBour Tyler explained to me that I needed to start bringing in some money to help pay for the expenses. That s when things changed. He started putting up ads for me on Backpage.com. He forced me to have sex with the guys who responded to the ad in hotels across the city. I would do it so he wouldn t get angry and hit me. He also started staying out late with his friends I never knew what they were doing and soon I was too scared to ask him anything. I wanted to stop. Tyler told me that I wouldn t have to see so many clients if I could find him another girl to make up for it. I brought him Angie, a friend from Facebook. I told her she could make a lot of money working for Tyler, and she believed me. A few weeks later, Tyler got arrested. Angie had gone to the police after Tyler had raped her. I was glad that he got arrested I felt like I was in an endless spiral of pain and had been contemplating suicide for several weeks. The police arranged for me to go to a shelter for victims of domestic violence and the shelter put me in touch with ACT Alberta. I had never considered before that I might have been trafficked. I m scared Tyler s friends might find me and tell him where I am. ACT Alberta has said they will help get me out of the city so that I don t have to feel like I constantly need to look over my shoulder. I ve decided to upgrade my schooling and finally get my high school diploma. I m 19 now. It s time for me to move on with my life.
Karly s story I always remember things being hard, but I didn t know how bad things could get until I turned 12. That was the year that my mom committed suicide and I was placed into care. I started being shuffled around group homes there was a lot of drug use in the homes, and it wasn t long before I started doing sexual favours in return for drugs or gifts. When I was fifteen I met Luke. He lived near my group home and seemed to really get what I was going through. He was 24 and he knew all about what it was like to be on your own. He started buying me presents and he let me sleep on his couch. It was nice to feel loved. But after a few months, he started putting pressure on me to turn tricks to pay him back. If I didn t bring home enough money, he would accuse me of stealing from him and would hit me. Although I loved Luke more than anyone I d ever known, I got really scared the day he broke my nose. I started talking to other guys online. That was how I met Max. He felt bad for me and invited me to stay with him in Calgary. He was fun and we did a lot of drugs together. He convinced me to start stripping to help pay for the meth. Within a few weeks, I was selling my body to make more money. In return for my earnings, Max let me sleep at his place and gave me all the drugs I wanted. But I tried not to come home without my quota if I didn t bring home enough money he would do worse things to me than break my nose.
SEX One night one of my dates ran out without paying. When I told Max what had happened, he beat me until I was unconscious and left me in an alley where the police found me. Through the Calgary Police Department I was put in touch with ACT Alberta. They helped me get access to income support and arranged safe shelter and trauma treatment. They also arranged for me to get help with my addictions. I m 22 now, and I ve finally gotten my high school diploma. I still struggle with my addictions, but I m enrolled in a social work program in the fall and feel for the first time like things might turn out okay.
Stas s story Crowded in the back of a van heading north of Edmonton with seven other men, I knew I faced another unpaid day cleaning at a mink farm, despite being a skilled welder. The eight of us came to Canada on the promise of $25/hour jobs, plus overtime, food and lodging. We were hired to build two oil processing plants in the oil sands. I sold everything I owned and borrowed at loanshark rates to get the $12,000 required to pay the recruiter and buy a plane ticket. What I and the others didn t know was that the contract had been cancelled and there was no work for us. When we arrived in Canada, we were met by someone from the recruitment agency who demanded our passports and work permits. He also took our cell phones and warned us not to try to contact anyone.
LaBour My first week in Canada was spent with the other men in the basement of a Calgary house, sleeping four to a bed and wondering what was to become of us. Then we were transported three hours north of Edmonton to our new home a filthy, abandoned farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. Half of us were pressed into working and cleaning at the mink farm while the others dug ditches or picked up garbage around a large rural estate. Living conditions were horrible: dirty mattresses, no food and no contact with anyone including family back home. We were constantly threatened with deportation and did every menial job asked of us. None of the work involved welding or plumbing (the trades we were recruited for) and we were never paid the wages we had agreed to. After many complaints, we would sometimes receive some meager pay, always in cash. We eventually fled to a local RCMP detachment and were referred on to ACT Alberta. ACT Alberta advocated on our behalf and helped some of us receive official Temporary Foreign Worker status, enabling us to work in the province. They supported us by connecting us with the necessary services including a translator and housing. Not all of us were so lucky. Three of my friends were deported back to Moldova and barred by immigration authorities from entering Canada for several years. I m not sure what happened to them or their families after that, although I heard rumours that the traffickers punished them for drawing the attention of law enforcement in Canada. The company we worked for was well connected back home the traffickers weren t afraid to use violence against us in Canada, and I know they weren t in Moldova either.
Joyce s story I grew up in a middle-class family in a city in northern China. A few years ago, one of my uncles, newly returned from a trip abroad, asked me if I was interested in moving to Canada to be a nanny. I knew about the Live-in Caregiver program because a childhood friend had immigrated to Canada as a nanny several years prior. I excitedly said yes. My uncle arranged for all the required courses, helped me complete all the paperwork, and connected me with a potential employer. As soon as I received my contract and Work Permit, I was on my way to Alberta. The work was harder than I had expected. My responsibilities in the household slowly grew heavier and heavier. Within a couple of months, I was required to nanny both young children, cook all the meals and snacks, provide housekeeping services, and do all the laundry. Eventually, I was working 14 hour days and completing all the household chores. When I approached the man of the household for my wages, he raped me. I lived in this home for two years without being paid and in a constant state of oppression. I was prevented from speaking to anyone outside the family and was not allowed access to a TV or computer. Once a month, they supervised me while I made a short phone call to my mother, where I always told her that things were fine and that I was being paid well. My employers kept my documents and made me sleep on a cot in the kitchen. Over and above the exhausting manual labour, I was raped on a regular basis by my employer. I was living a nightmare.
SEX LaBour After two years, I found that I just couldn t take it anymore. Late one night, in a state of total fear, I escaped out the back door. I made my way to a downtown pay phone and called the police. They connected me with ACT Alberta while they investigated the family who had abused me for so long. ACT Alberta worked with me to get the services I needed, including support from a sexual assault clinic and health care. They also supported me throughout the process of laying charges against my employer and helped to guide me through the process of applying to stay in Canada. I couldn t afford trauma counselling although I was in desperate need of it, so ACT Alberta paid my therapy fees. Although I know I have a long road ahead of me, I am finally working through my trauma and pain.
Marco s story Despite working very hard in my hometown in the Philippines, I was unable to make ends meet financially and debt mounted for me and my family. When my cousin gave me the name of a recruiter who offered me a high paying job as a chef in Sherwood Park, it sounded like my chance to get us out of debt and provide us a better life. For $10,000, the recruiter promised to take care of everything. I couldn t afford the fee but the recruiter told me I could pay once I started working in Canada. When I arrived in Sherwood Park, I found out the restaurant I was contracted to work for couldn t give me a job. I was told my only chance to stay in Canada was to begin working for a cleaning company that could employ me as a janitor. I was soon put to work for 14 hour days doing exhausting manual labour. I was regularly insulted and slapped by the company owner. At night, I had no other choice but to sleep in the company van.
LaBour When I eventually approached the owner for my earnings, I was told my wages would be withheld until my recruitment fees were paid. The owner also told me to my surprise that I was working illegally since my work visa was only valid for the company I was contracted with. I would be immediately deported if I complained. Sometimes my boss made me deliver suitcases around the city for him. I was certain that they contained drugs, but when I told him I didn t want to do it he had me beaten with a steel rod. I m sure his thugs broke a rib it hurts to breathe to this day. I didn t complain about working after that. Weeks turned into months. As I had no money, I regularly went hungry and the long days exhausted me. One day I passed out from fatigue and hunger. I was taken to the emergency room of a hospital in Edmonton. The nurse who attended me had recently attended an education session on human trafficking by act alberta. She recognized the signs of exploitation and asked if I wanted help. In desperation, I told her my story and she connected me with ACT. ACT Alberta was able to advocate for my immigration status in Canada. Through their assistance, I received an open work permit. They connected me with the Food Bank, arranged for long-term housing, and supported me during my transition period. I now have Permanent Residency status in Canada and have been able to bring over my wife and two sons to live with me in Edmonton.
Ranya s story I always knew that one day I would leave Bangladesh. When I turned 18, my parents arranged a marriage to a Bangladeshi-Canadian man. I spent the plane ride imagining my new life and thinking how exciting it would be to show my sisters around when they came to visit. Ashik, my new husband, met me at the airport. I was relieved that he looked exactly like his picture young and handsome. After we arrived at my new home, I started talking excitedly about the nice kitchen and my sisters but he cut me off quickly, telling me that I would be working for him in his massage clinic, not lazing around the house. Ashik told me that the law in Canada says that when a woman comes to live with her husband she has to help him. He was helping me by giving me a home and I would help him by cleaning and giving massages. However, I soon found out that Ashik s massage clinic was really a brothel run out of a dingy motel. Shocked, I refused to be involved. Ashik grew very angry and threatened to turn me over to the authorities. I was confused. What could the authorities do to me? I was in Canada legally, wasn t I? Ashik told me that he would tell immigration authorities that our marriage was fraudulent and they would immediately arrest and deport me. He knew the system and had nothing to fear, since he was born in Canada. I couldn t bear to think of the disgrace that would come to my family if I went to jail and of their shame when they learned what Ashik was forcing me to do. I was scared and alone, and felt I had no other choice but to comply.
SEX LaBour Ashik took my passport and worked me very hard. After a few months of abuse, I fell ill and he had to take me to the hospital. One of the nurses was suspicious about my condition I was young, pregnant, scared, and couldn t speak any English. Ashik never left my side and answered everything on my behalf. The nurse, believing something to be very wrong, called police. After many questions, they referred me to Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and called ACT Alberta. ACT Alberta was my advocate. They applied for a Temporary Resident Permit on my behalf and arranged for me to be supported while police investigated Ashik and his massage clinic. Despite the support of ACT Alberta, I felt isolated and longed for the social supports of my family and home. ACT Alberta helped pay for my plane ticket back to Bangladesh.
Who is ACT AlBerta? ACT Alberta works collaboratively with law enforcement, government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations to identify and respond to human trafficking in our province. ACT Alberta serves the needs of internationally and internally trafficked men, women, and children, and assists those trafficked for the purposes of both labour and sexual exploitation. What we do Coordinate services for victims of human trafficking Manage a Victims Assistance Fund Engage and educate the public Provide free training to service providers Research and collect data on human trafficking Help develop policy provincially and nationally Build capacity for community-based responses FUNDED IN PART BY: