Human Trafficking - What Are the Signs?
It’s been five years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its final report and 92 Calls to Action. Organizations, companies, cities and the federal government made promises to incorporate the Calls to Action to help heal the country and the relationship with the original peoples of this land.
It has been almost nine months since the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls has been released. Their final report had 231 Calls for Justice.
Can you name any of the 231 Calls for Justice?
Challenge yourself to pick one Call for Justice and figure out how you can honour it within your life. Then challenge a sibling, a parent, a friend, a co-worker to do the same.
By starting the conversation, you can be part of the change to really address this important issue. In some airports there is signage outlining what human trafficking looks like. If we all educated ourselves on what it looks like, and then were not afraid to speak up and out on suspected cases, we can start to save women and girls.
What if it was your daughter, sister, cousin or friend? Wouldn’t you want everyone to know what to look for and to speak out?
These are some signs of human trafficking from the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking:
● Being controlled by others, driven to and from locations, and escorted at all times;
● Providing scripted or rehearsed answers to casual questions
● Avoids eye contact, has another person speak for them
● Not having a passport or other forms of I.D. in their possession;
● Not having control of their own money or cellphone, may have more than one cell phone in their possession
● Being moved frequently; claim to be “new” or “just visiting”
For more signs of human trafficking visit: https://www.canadiancentretoendhumantrafficking.ca/signs-of-human-trafficking/
We all need to know the signs, so when we spot them, we can save a woman or young girl’s life.
Sharing the stories of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls is important work. The team that brought you Taken worked hard to care for the women’s and their families’ stories. They have done their best to provide a platform to help shed light and perhaps bring new clues to their murders or disappearances. Some of these stories have been turned into a 10-part podcast series. We hope you will listen and share them with your networks, in the hope some of these crimes will be solved.
Kim Wheeler is a writer and publicist. She is the original writer/researcher for Taken. Her daughter, Katarina Ziervogel, is walking in her mom’s footsteps. Katarina also worked on Taken as a writer and social media producer. Kim is holding the doors open for her daughters to walk through.