Backgrounders - Taking Action Against Violence and Exploitation of Women and Girls

The tabling of the Preventing Trafficking, Abuse and Exploitation of Vulnerable Immigrants Act is the most recent initiative in the Government of Canada’s ongoing effort to address violence against women and the exploitation of women and girls. Other recent initiatives include:

Strengthening the Criminal Code of Canada

• Recent substantive and procedural changes to the Criminal Code of Canada to increase the safety of women and children, include:
  • enacting three specific offences that prohibit (i) trafficking in persons; (ii) the receipt of a financial or material benefit from trafficking in persons; and, (iii) the withholding or destroying of travel or identity documents in order to facilitate trafficking in persons (November 2005).
  • improving availability of testimonial aids for vulnerable adult victims/ witnesses, including women who have experienced violence (January 2006);
  • ending the use of “house arrest” for offences involving serious personal injury (December 2007);
  • increasing mandatory minimum penalties for serious offences where a firearm is used (May 2008);
  • strengthening the peace bond provisions concerning those previously convicted of sexual offences against children (May 2008); and
  • raising the age of sexual consent from 14 to 16 years to protect young people, including girls, from sexual exploitation by adult predators (May 2008);

Bill C-268 – Trafficking in Minors

• On June 29, 2010, Bill C-268 received Royal Assent. The bill, introduced by MP Joy Smith in 2009, amends the Criminal Code to impose a mandatory minimum penalty of 5 years imprisonment for trafficking a person under the age of 18 years. These penalties apply equally to trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation or forced labour.

Federal Partnerships

• On September 7, 2010, Public Safety Canada announced the official launch of its “Blue Blindfold” campaign, an initiative that will allow the public to gain a better understanding of how to identify human trafficking cases, including the domestic trafficking of women and girls for the purposes of sexual exploitation, while also offering everyone a way to help law enforcement officers identify offenders and help victims. The initiative was developed in partnership with the RCMP and the Canadian Crime Stoppers Association, and includes access to the Crime Stoppers 24/7 anonymous national tip-line as well as awareness raising activities through print, radio and television re-enactments, educational brochures, and posters.
• In February 2009, the Government announced its commitment of $71 million over five years for the renewal of the National Strategy for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation on the Internet. The aim is to improve the protection of children from on-line predators, to enhance public education and awareness, and support further research on child sexual exploitation. As the lead on this Strategy, Public Safety Canada partners with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Justice Canada, and Cybertip.ca, which serves as Canada’s national tip line to report suspected cases of child sexual exploitation on the Internet.

Increasing Support for Victims of Crime

• Building on the investment for the Federal Victims Strategy announced in Budget 2006, Budget 2010 provides funding of $6.6 million over two years to enhance support for victims of crime, including providing facilitated access to Employment Insurance benefits for eligible workers who have lost a family member as a result of a crime.

Strengthening Law Enforcement Tools

• Since 2008, over 28,500 law enforcement, border and immigration officers have received awareness training on human trafficking led by the RCMP, with the participation of Status of Women Canada. The RCMP has updated a law enforcement toolkit on human trafficking and developed a national awareness campaign called “I’m Not For Sale”. These awareness initiatives include information on women and girls, who are disproportionately impacted by this crime.
• Budget 2010 provides $14 million over two years to increase the ability to process, DNA samples so that the results could be added to the National DNA Data Bank.

Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women

• Budget 2010 provides funding of $10 million over two years to address the disturbingly high number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women. Concrete actions will be taken to ensure that law enforcement and the justice system meet the needs of Aboriginal women and their families.

Increasing Support for Community-Based Programs for Women

• Through Status of Women Canada’s Women’s Program, the Government of Canada has nearly doubled the support available to on-the-ground programs aimed at improving the lives of women and girls in communities across the country.