There’s a whole ugly industry that forces women into sex for money. It’s called human trafficking, and it happens all over the country, including right here in Kawartha Lakes. Women’s Resources is here to help those being trafficked, whether they are able to leave that life behind or not.
Although there are many reasons why a woman might end up being trafficked, poverty and homelessness top the list, according to La-Ferne Powell, Residential Services Manager at WR. A common scenario sees a young woman involved in what she thinks is a loving relationship, but in which her boyfriend becomes increasingly demanding, eventually forcing her to prove her loyalty by having sex with others for money. Traffickers will also play on a woman’s mental health and her addictions.
“It starts small and leads to being abused and trafficked,” La-Ferne says. Before long, the woman feels she has no other option. “She sees this as a way to maintain herself financially as well as maintaining what she thinks is a loving relationship.” (People of all genders are trafficked; WR’s mandate is to serve women.)
The women are referred by hospital staff, police and outreach counsellors. WR also has a worker who works half her hours in outreach and half in the organization’s shelter. “When she can talk to women out in the community, she encourages them to come in to our safe place and explains the kinds of services we offer,” La-Ferne says.
Women who come to the WR shelter and use its services are typically from the GTA or even out of province. Sex trafficking is a network that’s often controlled by organized crime, so it’s best for women who’ve been trafficked to leave the community where their abusers live. Similarly, women who have been trafficked locally are usually offered a place outside Kawartha Lakes.
The path out of a life of trafficking is an incredibly hard one. The criminals running the operation isolate and control the women they profit from, harming them psychologically and emotionally as well as physically. Not surprisingly, many women come to safety and leave again multiple times. “We offer consistent support with no end date on it,” La-Ferne says. As is often the case with intimate partner violence of other kinds, a woman who’s been trafficked might come in and out of Women’s Resources over the course of several years until she feels capable of leaving her abusive life for good.
When these women come to the shelter, they often have a form of PTSD after all they’ve experienced. They may be undernourished or otherwise in poor health because their abuser has limited their ability to seek medical care. They are frightened and unsure about who they can believe.
“It’s not a failure when someone comes in and then they go back to the trafficker,” La-Ferne observes. “It just means she wasn’t ready to engage the support systems or didn’t know they were available. A lot of these women have problems trusting people because they started out in a trusting relationship and ended up here. When we tell them what we offer, it’s hard for them to believe it. They ask whether they can trust the system of help.”
Whether it takes one try or 20, a few months or several years or a lifetime, “We’re here with arms wide open,” La-Ferne says.
If you are being forced to have sex for money, or if you know someone who is or might be, there’s help at Women’s Resources. Call our 24/7 Crisis Support Line at 1-705-878-3662 or 1-800-565-5350.
Watch for our next blog that helps us to understand how you can help reduce the risk of trafficking.
By Nancy Payne
