Human Trafficking symposium to open eyes

It’s easy to think that the issue of human trafficking doesn’t impact Albertans: the media often portrays it as an Eastern European or East Asian issue.

MRU Justice Studies Professor John Winterdyk has news for Albertans. Research is revealing that it’s happening right here in Calgary.

John Winterdyk, co-editor of a new book on Human Trafficking.

“One of the problems we’re seeing here in Canada and Alberta is forced domestic servitude,” says Winterdyk.

“People are imported to work as nannies or housekeepers with the promise of money being sent back to help their families. Then their passports are taken away and they’re paid next to nothing. So they’re basically kept as slaves.”

Winterdyk says the number one problem with fighting the third-most lucrative crime in the world is a lack of collaboration.

On Feb. 16, Mount Royal University will host a symposium, They Have a Name: Human Trafficking examining how a lack of collaboration between governments and law enforcement agencies allows human traffickers stay a step ahead.

The symposium, hosted by the Department of Justice Studies, will include a performance of the acclaimed play, Without a name, a keynote address by United Nations Human Trafficking consultant and Senior Associate in the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at the University of Fraser Valley, Yvon Dandurand.
 
The event will also be a book launch for Mount Royal University Winterdyk, also the Director of the MRU Criminology Centre, is helping to organize the event. Winterdyk was one of the lead editors on the recently released book, Human Trafficking: Exploring the International Nature, Concerns and Complexities. Dandurand is also a contributor to the book, which has authors from seven different countries represented among its 12 chapters.

“I’ve been running brown bag noon hour sessions since the inception of the Criminal Justice Research Centre in 2009,” says Winterdyk explaining the genesis of the symposium.

“This past year, I began to think about running a different type of event to get help disseminating info and expertise. As I was working on my book, I began to think, it’d be kind of interesting to coordinate the book launch somehow with an event on human trafficking because it’s such a significant, timely issue.”

Bringing everything together

Around the time these thoughts were all coming together, about a year ago, he went to see a production of the play, Without a name. An acclaimed performance that tells the story of a girl caught up in a human trafficking ring.

“I was blown away; it really resonated with me,” says Winterdyk.

He didn’t waste any time. He bee-lined backstage and asked the troupe if they’d be interested in performing it at MRU.

“Then I figured, all we would need is a keynote speaker to draw some attention to the event and bring some interesting, relevant information and open it up to the community.

Between the play and Dandurand’s participation, the event has become relatively high profile.
 
And that’s exactly what the issue of human trafficking needs, explains Winterdyk noting that he wants to help raise awareness of the problems in the fight to save the innocent victims caught up in this tragic crime.

“Yvon’s big issues are around capacity building. Everyone’s working in silos in the fight against this problem and it is counter-productive. So, Yvon’s agenda is to help figure out how we can bring different interest groups and agencies together to work more efficiently in the battle against human trafficking."

Raising awareness

Dandurand agrees that raising awareness is a big step forward in combating the issue.

“Part of the problem when it comes to preventing human trafficking is the invisibility of the exploitation that is going on,” explains Dandurand.

“People do not always understand what they are dealing with because of the stereotypes and false assumptions they make about human trafficking. Another part of the problem is that victims do not come forward for protection, because they do not know whether it is reasonably safe for them to do so.”

Dandurand says these type of public forums also help draw the attention of the government.
While at MRU, Dandurand plans on addressing the issue of international cooperation, which is his angle of specialty.

“A lot of what we have been doing so far has not been very effective and professionals, all over the world, have been asking themselves how they might approach the whole problem differently.

“Efforts to stop human trafficking activities, convict and punish human traffickers, and protect victims must continue. However, there is a consensus among Canadian stakeholders that there is also a need for a comprehensive and more effective national strategy to prevent human trafficking in the first place.“

It’s that perspective that Dandurand offers in Winterdyk’s book as well.

The book, born out of a research project Winterdyk developed with some colleagues for the U.S. Federal Government, emphasizes that finger-pointing is a part of the problem, not the solution.

“What we’re beginning to understand is that there’s countries of origin, transfer and destination,” explains Winterdyk.

“The significance of that is the era of finger-pointing and saying it’s their problem, not ours, has to come to an end because just about everyone’s involved in some way or other and can contribute to lowering the impact of this crime.”

His hope is that this book and this symposium will serve to change that and create greater awareness and a more proactive attitude.

“It speaks to the depravity of humanity, that people would do this to other people and take advantage of the most marginalized groups — women, kids, minorities … it’s mind boggling.

“For me, if it gets people to start thinking about the house that has a nanny at the end of the street who never leaves the house, then maybe they’ll contact someone or start asking some questions.”

— Steven Noble, Jan. 26, 2012