Moncton among cities with highest human trafficking rates: Report

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Moncton is among the Canadian cities with the highest rate of police-reported human trafficking, according to Statistics Canada.

A Statistics Canada report from December 2023 states there were 3,996 police-reported incidents of human trafficking in Canada between 2012 and 2022.

In 2022, Halifax and Moncton reported the highest annual rate of reported human trafficking with 5.6 and 5 incidents per 100,000 population, respectively, above the national overall rate of 1.5 incidents of reported human trafficking in census metropolitan areas in Canada that year.

Human trafficking goes unnoticed in New Brunswick because people are unable to recognize the signs, advocates and RCMP say.

Julia Drydyk, the executive director at the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking, said trafficking has been happening in Atlantic Canada for decades.

“We see some corridors existing within Atlantic Canada, specifically moving from Halifax, through Truro into Moncton,” she said, adding victims are then often moved to Ontario and western provinces, taking victims away from their support systems, and evading police.

“They’ll be moving victims from municipality to municipality, province to province, staying just insofar as they feel they might be detected and then moving on.”

There are still myths around human trafficking that exist, said Drydyk. Most victims are not kidnapped and taken across borders, but instead traffickers prey on people with vulnerabilities, insecurities, low self-esteem, or troubled family relationships.

Drydyk said poverty, homelessness, and substance abuse are also things a human trafficker looks for, and traffickers have been known to target people at homeless shelters.

A trafficker will embed themselves in a victim’s life, often as a boyfriend or friend, and learn about their hopes, dreams, and insecurities, promising a future together. Then, will withdraw their love and use it as leverage to coerce a person into the commercial sex industry.

Drydyk said people working in all sectors should be watching for signs of trafficking, but especially those in education, after-school activities, hospitality, health care, social work, and government departments like Social Development.

On the surface, trafficking may look like an abusive relationship or intimate partner violence.

Drydyk said members of the public may notice a situation when a person appears to be controlled by their partner, are not able to answer for themselves, or appears fearful. Another warning sign is if the person who seems to be controlled has no access to their identification.

Follow your gut and report it

Insp. Chantal Farrah

Insp. Chantal Farrah of the Codiac Regional RCMP said if people see the signs of human trafficking, they should contact the RCMP and ask for a wellbeing check on the person.

“If you see something that doesn’t look right follow your gut and report it,” she said, noting RCMP officers are also on the lookout for signs of trafficking when patrolling in the community.

Police have said a wellbeing check was vital in uncovering human trafficking in southeastern New Brunswick last month.

RCMP had said Codiac RCMP members received a call requesting a wellbeing check on a girl on April 12 at a residence on Ward Street in Moncton. Police said they discovered the girl had been reported missing in Ontario.

Police said that on April 16, they received a call requesting assistance at a residence in Dieppe where they found another girl who had also been reported as missing in Ontario, and was also believed to be a victim of human trafficking. RCMP said a woman from Quebec was also a victim of human trafficking at the residence

Saphira Bastien, 18, of Dieppe, also known as Sassou according to court documents, appeared in Moncton provincial court last week, and elected a trial by judge and jury.

Bastien is charged with two counts of trafficking girls under the age of 18. The charges specify she allegedly exercised control over the movements of the girls for the purpose of facilitating their exploitation in Dieppe between April 9-14 in one charge and April 9-16 in the other.

She is also charged with making child pornography by taking photos for a sexual purpose of a person who’s under 18 between April 9-14, and knowingly advertising an offer online to provide sexual services. Bastien was denied bail last week after the Crown had objected to her release.

A publication ban prevents the reporting of any further details that would identify the complainants in the case. The accused has also been ordered to have no contact with a long list of people. The case will return to court May 17 to set a date for the preliminary inquiry.

Farrah said there have been no additional arrests in the human trafficking investigation, and noted the investigation remains ongoing.

Judicial barriers 

Drydyk said barriers still exist in the justice system preventing traffickers to be caught and convicted. She noted judicial proceedings require testimonies from the victims, and since court cases are lengthy processes, the victims often have to testify and tell their stories multiple times, which can bring up past trauma at a time when they are trying to emotionally heal from their experiences.

Only seven per cent of people who called the centre’s 24-hour human trafficking hotline wanted to be connected directly with law enforcement, she said.

Over half of human trafficking incidents did not result in criminal charges, Statistics Canada said in the report, which could be due to several factors, including the incident still being under investigation, insufficient evidence, or no accused identified.

Roughly 83 per cent of completed adult criminal court cases involving at least one human trafficking charge resulted in a stay, a withdrawal, a dismissal, or a discharge, 11 per cent resulted in a guilty decision, and 5 per cent in acquittal.

The report states human trafficking cases are more complex and often require more time in court than other types of offenses.

Drydyk said some provinces like Ontario have made it easier for victims to testify, such has having testimonies done by video so the victim doesn’t have to face the trafficker in court.

Brunswick News has asked the Department of Justice and Public Safety for comment.

Drydyk’s organization would like to see all provinces adopt a long-term anti-human trafficking strategy focused on prevention, support for victims, and removing judicial barriers.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do in Canada to improve access to justice for victims and survivors,” she said. 

New Brunswick does have a human trafficking working group, which works to raise awareness about human trafficking. According the government website, the group is comprised of long list of organizations, including RCMP, Justice and Public Safety, New Brunswick Association of Chiefs of Police, YWCA Moncton, Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research, and the Fredericton Sexual Assault Centre.

People who would like more information about human trafficking or who are victims looking for help can call the 24-hour Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010.

–With files from Craig Babstock