Suspected human trafficking cases on the rise in N.S., say RCMP

The number of suspected human trafficking cases is on the rise in Nova Scotia.

Police report more families coming forward from every corner of the province to say their children, mostly daughters, have been forced into the sex trade and moved out of the province.

There have been more than a dozen new cases since last January that appear to be human trafficking that are under investigation by the RCMP, according to Cpl. David Lane, the human trafficking co-ordinator for the RCMP in Nova Scotia.

"People are coming to us and asking, 'Hey, my daughter or my son is in this situation, do you think it's human trafficking?' Whereas, in the past, parents would go years without wanting to explore the avenue that their kid could actually be … trafficked," said Lane.

There has also been a jump in the number of police and other agencies from outside the province contacting the RCMP to say they are dealing with victims of human trafficking, or traffickers, from Nova Scotia.

"Of course there's an increase, we all know there's an increase," said Cheyenne Jones, who was the victim of sexual exploitation 20 years ago, who now helps the victims of human trafficking. "Advocates, parents, these girls — they know this is happening. We've been saying it forever."

But figuring out exactly how many people are being taken out of the province is hard to determine.

"Statistics are very hard for human trafficking because most victims won't even identify themselves as victims because often they're tricked into a work contract, or more commonly a boyfriend-girlfriend scenario," said Lane.

"They think, 'I can't be trafficked, this is my boyfriend. I chose to do this. I chose to leave Nova Scotia, I chose to work in the sex trade,'" said Lane. 

Girls as young as 14 are often targeted by traffickers and tracked on social media, said Lane.

The girls believe they are going on dates and are often showered with gifts and attention, but they are being manipulated.

"Almost immediately after a 'honeymoon phase' they start to be isolated from family and friends," said Lane, "They're hard to get a hold of and they often move from Nova Scotia."     

From there, most people are moved from one city to another and forced into sexual exploitation. 

These days, traffickers target Nova Scotia's rural communities and larger centres in equal measure, according to Lane.

Jennifer Holleman knows that first hand.

Her daughter, Maddison Fraser, was trafficked out of Yarmouth County. Fraser died in a car accident in Edmonton with a man believed to be her john in 2015.  

"I find myself thinking that I'm blessed that [it] happened to her because it was fast," Holleman said. "There's no more torture, no more beatings, you know, there's no more anything."

Holleman tried to convince her daughter to come home and escape the abuse she was suffering, but she couldn't.

"As a parent, I feel like I failed my daughter," she said.

Once someone leaves the province it's very difficult to track them down and bring them back.

"Most of the parents that we've dealt with so far are waiting for their daughters to come home and so it's difficult for us because it's always bad news, " said Lane. "But I will say there are a lot of people committed to trying to get their daughters home."  

Jones believes differently. She said the RCMP and other police forces aren't doing enough to put an end to human trafficking in the province. 

"Nobody cares about us," she said. "It makes you feel like, 'How many girls have to go through this before somebody does something? How many girls have to die? How many girls have to be tortured?' Because that's what's happening."

Jones said some of the girls exploited and abused by traffickers never fully recover. 

"Girls that have survived these horrific situations, they should be praised," said Jones. "Our society should be standing up and clapping when they walk into a room because they are the ultimate survivors. They've beaten death. They've done whatever they could do to survive and I'm proud to walk beside them."

She wants police to start targeting the people who pay for sex. Jones said if officers started to arrest more of those men, the demand for human trafficking would dry up.

The RCMP say they are working on the matter.

Lane said all of Nova Scotia's traffic officers have now been trained to spot trafficking. Eventually, all front-line officers in the province will have the same training.

"The traffic members are stopping these vehicles the most, so we're giving them the tools to recognize it early and do the correct intervention," he said.   

He believes the police and the public need to be on the lookout for signs of human trafficking.

But even more importantly, he said parents need to talk to their children about human trafficking and teach them how to avoid becoming involved with someone looking to manipulate them.   

"Would you rather have an uncomfortable conversation with your child about human trafficking which might last 20 minutes, or would you rather have an uncomfortable call with a police officer about trying to get your daughter back months, years later after she's been exploited in the sex trade?"