North Bay police will be among a number of agencies that will attend a conference in Sudbury next month that will focus on human trafficking.
The North East Region OPP, Greater Sudbury Police Service and the Sudbury and Area Victim Services are also partnering to host a Northern Ontario Human Trafficking Conference from Tuesday, March 5 - 7, in Sudbury.
The conference will have various speakers including survivors of human trafficking, a provincial human trafficking prosecutor, clinical psychologist, an expert on neurobiology of trauma as well as members from law enforcement and the judicial system.
The conference is aimed to inform emergency responders, judicial members, and other agencies directly involved with human trafficking.
The partnering agencies are committed to fighting human trafficking through intelligence-gathering and working cooperatively with our law enforcement and community partners to support victims and enforcement efforts.
For more information or to register for this event send an e-mail to opp.human.trafficking.
Meanwhile, today marks the second annual Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Ontario.
According to police-reported data, over 90 per cent of victims are girls and women. 70 per cent are under 25 and 26 per cent are younger than 18. The reported age of recruitment is as low as 12 or 13 and most victims of sex trafficking are from Canada.
Survivors face tremendous obstacles in getting free from their traffickers. Traffickers control their victims in many ways, including psychological manipulation, emotional abuse, lies, addiction, threats, violence, isolation, and taking control of identification and money.
The North Bay Police Service, in a news release, says it is committed to fighting human trafficking by working cooperatively with our law enforcement and community partners to support victims and enforcement efforts.
For information about human trafficking in Ontario, including the signs, risk factors, available help and initiatives to support survivors visit Ontario.ca/HumanTrafficking.
Ontario also has a dedicated 24/7 Human Trafficking Helpline that can direct callers to services in or near their community. The number is 1-833-999-9211, TTY 1-888-340-1001. If you know someone who is at risk of human trafficking, wants to leave a trafficking situation or needs help to heal from trauma, please call the provincial helpline to access local services.
