Westman region needs more resources to help tackle trafficking, sexual exploitation: advocate

As more professionals in Brandon learn how to identify signs of sexual exploitation and trafficking, advocates say rural Manitoba residents looking to escape exploitation still lack the support they need.

Lisa Noctor is an outreach co-ordinator with the Gakina Abinoojiiyag Program, or GAP — an outreach and homelessness prevention program for vulnerable youth operated by the Brandon Friendship Centre. She says while education is a critical step forward, southwestern Manitoba lacks the kind of important followup resources available in Winnipeg.

"We don't even have the types of learning opportunities that we need here in the Westman area, never mind the types of programs and supports that are required," Noctor said. "It's incredibly shameful that throughout our entire province, the only places that … youth are able to access services are all in Winnipeg."

The absence in Brandon of a program like the Manitoba government's StreetReach — which operates in Winnipeg and northern Manitoba, and aims to prevent sexual exploitation of children and youth — is "a massive oversight at the provincial level," Noctor says.

On Wednesday, GAP Youth Outreach held sexual exploitation and trafficking training that was facilitated by Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre's EmpowerMen program, which works with men and boys to prevent sexual exploitation and trafficking.

The training was designed to improve identification, prevention, intervention and response around sexual exploitation and trafficking in Westman, by helping front-line workers better identify risk factors and perpetrator behaviour, and learn what leads people into trafficking and exploitation, Noctor said.

But education without infrastructure can only go so far, especially if youth trying to escape exploitation can only find support in Winnipeg, she said.

"It's a really disheartening situation to be in, when a youth expresses that they are ready for support … and they have to go to Winnipeg,'" Noctor said. "They have to go to a place that is bigger, scarier and more dangerous."

It's especially troubling for youth coming from rural or reserve communities who are already overwhelmed by life in Brandon, a city of roughly 54,000, she said. While many good-hearted people are working hard in the community to ensure that people who are ready to exit can do so, they need more support, said Noctor.

"We can't do it alone," she said.

The Brandon Police Service has one counter-exploitation position attached to its organized crime section, a spokesperson said in an email. Right now the position is vacant, but detectives are filling the role.

Identifying trafficking, exploitation

Geraldine Gruszczyk with the EmpowerMen Project at Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre, a Winnipeg-based community service provider, says the program's goal is prevention, by teaching communities to recognize red flags and act when they believe exploitation is happening.

"If you see something, do something," she said. "Share with your circle… That might be someone that is suffering this, or knows somebody that is suffering or being exploited."

Women, Indigenous people, and people living in poverty or with addictions are among the most vulnerable when it comes to exploitation, Gruszczyk said.

So are people aging out of care, she said.

"Once they turned 18, they are on their own. They don't have skills, they don't have education… What would you do?" Gruszczyk said.

Noctor says cities like Brandon also host large events, and big crowds can increase the chances of exploitation.

"Any time we have a whole bunch of people coming in from out of town, there's a lot of risk.… The instances of sex purchasing increase," she said.

She also said grooming tactics often mask exploitation as a relationship. Some youth are unaware they've been groomed — or that they're being used to groom others.

"Over the five years that I've been working in this program, a large number of the youth are actively being exploited or have historically been exploited," said Noctor.

'Step up and say something'

Gruszczyk says wildfire evacuees recently displaced from northern Manitoba are also at high risk, especially as some face discrimination when arriving in new communities.

"This population is a target," she said. 

They have been targeted by drug dealers, and sexual exploitation is also happening, Gruszczyk said. That means communities need to be alert and work together to keep everyone safe.

Noctor agrees, saying traffickers and sex buyers may see evacuees as "fresh, new meat." 

Valerie Sandy, a Brandon community member, attended Wednesday's training because she wants the tools to make a difference in the city.

"Living downtown, unfortunately, we do see the exploitation happening … women getting into vehicles," said Sandy. "We know what that is."

But after the training, "I feel like there's something I can do now," she said.

Reporting concerns and offering compassion are key, said Sandy.

"Don't be afraid to be bold. Don't be afraid to have a heart.… We have to step up and say something."