ACT Alberta

Last updated
ACT Alberta
Type Coalition
PurposeTo identify, respond to, and raise awareness about human trafficking
Headquarters Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Region served
Alberta, Canada
Official language
English
Website http://www.actalberta.org/

ACT Alberta (short for Action Coalition on Human Trafficking Alberta) is a Canadian coalition of Government of Alberta representatives, non-governmental organizations, community organisations, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. [1] ACT Alberta provides resources to help front-line workers identify potential trafficking situations and aid victims of human trafficking. The coalition also raises awareness of human trafficking in Alberta. [2]

ACT Alberta relies primarily on funding from the provincial and federal government. [3]

Actions taken

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking</span> Trade of sexual slaves

Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Sex traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion as they recruit, transport, and provide their victims as prostitutes. Sometimes victims are brought into a situation of dependency on their trafficker(s), financially or emotionally. Every aspect of sex trafficking is considered a crime, from acquisition to transportation and exploitation of victims. This includes any sexual exploitation of adults or minors, including child sex tourism (CST) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in the Philippines</span>

Human trafficking and the prostitution of children has been a significant issue in the Philippines, often controlled by organized crime syndicates. Human trafficking is a crime against humanity.

Vietnam is primarily a source country for women and children trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and children are trafficked to the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C), Cambodia, Thailand, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Macau for sexual exploitation. Vietnamese women are trafficked to the P.R.C., Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea via fraudulent or misrepresented marriages for commercial exploitation or forced labor. Vietnam is also a source country for men and women who migrate willingly and legally for work in the construction, fishing, or manufacturing sectors in Malaysia, Taiwan, P.R.C., Thailand, and the Middle East but subsequently face conditions of forced labor or debt bondage. Vietnam is a destination country for Cambodian children trafficked to urban centers for forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. Vietnam has an internal trafficking problem with women and children from rural areas trafficked to urban centers for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Vietnam is increasingly a destination for child sex tourism, with perpetrators from Japan, the Republic of Korea, the P.R.C., Taiwan, the UK, Australia, Europe, and the U.S. In 2007, an Australian non-governmental organization (NGO) uncovered 80 cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children by foreign tourists in the Sa Pa tourist area of Vietnam alone.

Kazakhstan is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children trafficked from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan to Kazakhstan and on to Russia and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) for purposes of sex slavery and forced labor in the construction and agricultural industries. Kazakhstani men and women are trafficked internally and to the U.A.E., Azerbaijan, Turkey, Israel, Greece, Russia, and Germany and the United States for purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation.

Human trafficking in Canada is prohibited by law, and is considered a criminal offence whether it occurs entirely within Canada or involves the "transporting of persons across Canadian borders. Public Safety Canada (PSC) defines human trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, harbouring and/or exercising control, direction or influence over the movements of a person in order to exploit that person, typically through sexual exploitation or forced labour. It is often described as a modern form of slavery."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in the United States</span>

In the United States, human trafficking tends to occur around international travel hubs with large immigrant populations, notably in California, Texas, and Georgia. Those trafficked include young children, teenagers, men, and women; victims can be domestic citizens or foreign nationals.

Human trafficking is the trade of humans, most commonly for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. Mexico is a large source, transit, and destination country for victims of human trafficking.

<i>She Has a Name</i> 2009 Andrew Kooman play about human trafficking

She Has a Name is a play about human trafficking written by Andrew Kooman in 2009 as a single act and expanded to full length in 2010. It is about the trafficking of children into sexual slavery and was inspired by the deaths of 54 people in the Ranong human-trafficking incident. Kooman had previously published literature, but this was his first full-length play. The stage premiere of She Has a Name was directed by Stephen Waldschmidt in Calgary, Alberta in February 2011. From May to October 2012, She Has a Name toured across Canada. In conjunction with the tour, A Better World raised money to help women and children who had been trafficked in Thailand as part of the country's prostitution industry. The first performances of She Has a Name in the United States took place in Folsom, California in 2014 under the direction of Emma Eldridge, who was a 23-year-old college student at the time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Kooman</span>

Andrew Kooman is an author and playwright from Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.

The Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons (OCTIP) is a government agency responsible for coordinating efforts to address human trafficking in British Columbia, Canada. The focus of OCTIP's mandate is human rights, specifically those of the victims of human trafficking. OCTIP formed in 2007, making British Columbia the first province of Canada to address human trafficking in a formal manner. In 2008, the United States Department of State released a report on human trafficking in Canada that was generally critical of the Government of Canada for failing to address the issue, but the report praised the efforts of the Executive Council of British Columbia, specifically citing their creation of OCTIP. In June 2011, OCTIP launched a training program to certify first responders to identify, protect, and assist victims of human trafficking in the province. The program cost $106,000; half of the funding came from OCTIP while the rest was covered by Public Safety Canada and the Department of Justice. The following month, the Executive Council of British Columbia cut the annual budget for OCTIP from $500000 down to $300000, got rid of the executive director position, and reduced the number of full-time staff to two. Robin Pike was the executive director before her position was eliminated. Her last day of work was July 29. Between 2007 and 2011, OCTIP serviced more than 100 human trafficking victims in British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disappearance of Jessie Foster</span> Nevada disappearance case

Jessica Edith Louise Foster, is a Canadian woman who disappeared in the Las Vegas Valley in Nevada, United States, in 2006. Her parents are Glendene Grant and Dwight Foster. Jessie Foster had spent some time living in Calgary, Alberta. In 2005, Foster and a friend of hers visited Florida together, and then stopped by Las Vegas on the way back in May where Foster decided to stay. Before disappearing the following year, Foster became involved in prostitution, was arrested once for solicitation, and was the victim of battery on several occasions.

North Preston's Finest, also known as NPF, the Scotians, or the North Preston gang, is a gang of pimps based in North Preston, a satellite of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking</span> Canadian action plan established in 2012

The National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking is a four-year action plan that was established by the Government of Canada on June 6, 2012 to oppose human trafficking in Canada. In 2004, the government's Interdepartmental Working Group on Trafficking in Persons was mandated to create a national anti-human-trafficking plan, but the mandate went unfulfilled despite reminders from politicians and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Member of Parliament (MP) Joy Smith put forward motion C-153 in February 2007 to put a plan in place, and the House of Commons passed it unanimously. Smith began developing a proposal and released it in September 2010 under the title "Connecting the Dots". University of British Columbia law professor Benjamin Perrin helped guide Smith's writing of the proposal. Before the establishment of the NAP-CHT, a variety of people and organizations—including the 2009 and 2010 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Reports of the United States Department of State—criticized Canada for failing to have such a plan.

Timea Nagy is a Canadian activist who has spoken on behalf of victims of human trafficking. She founded Walk With Me, a Toronto-based organization that aids survivors of trafficking. Nagy was featured in an anti-trafficking campaign by the Salvation Army in 2009. Her activism has drawn upon her own experience of forced prostitution in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benjamin Perrin</span> Canadian lawyer and criminologist

Benjamin Perrin is a professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

<i>Invisible Chains</i> Book by Benjamin Perrin

Invisible Chains: Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking is a 2010 book about human trafficking by Benjamin Perrin. Perrin wrote the book after researching human trafficking for ten years. In Invisible Chains, Perrin recounts a variety of stories of human trafficking in Canada, including that of the prostitution of a child in Ontario whose sexual services were advertised in the adult services section of Craigslist. The book was timed to be published within three weeks of the release of Joy Smith's proposal for the National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking. Perrin advocated adopting Smith's proposal, saying that Invisible Chains "shows that while traffickers have a plan, Canada doesn't," and that the victims are the ones who suffer from the lack of a national action plan. Perrin promoted the book in Winnipeg, Manitoba in October 2010. Mark Milke of the Calgary Herald said that Perrin's book is "not an enjoyable read. It's depressing... but it's a necessary read," going on to say that Invisible Chains "will do much good." University of Manitoba professor Joan Durrant praised Invisible Chains, calling it a powerful book. Chester Brown condemned Invisible Chains, saying that it purports "that johns are evil monsters." In response, Brown wrote Paying for It, a graphic novel written "from the john's point of view, since of course, I don’t think of myself as an evil monster." Perrin's book was nominated for a George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature, but lost to One Story, One Song, an essay collection by Richard Wagamese.

Sex trafficking in China is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the People's Republic of China. It is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.

Sex trafficking in Myanmar is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Myanmar is primarily a source and transit country for sexually trafficked persons.

The Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation is a non-profit organization in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

References

  1. Benjamin Perrin (2010). Invisible Chains. Penguin Books. ISBN   978-0143178972.
  2. Suzanne Harris (Spring 2010). "Behind Closed Doors". Work of Arts.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. Benjamin Perrin (2010). Invisible Chains. Penguin Books. p. 109. ISBN   978-0143178972.
  4. "Men accused in human trafficking case make court appearance". CFRN-DT . September 21, 2009. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  5. "Radio station's win-a-Russian-bride contest panned". CBC.ca . September 7, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  6. Suzy Thompson (March 29, 2012). "Human trafficking affects foreign workers: Calgary is a source, destination and transit point". Fast Forward Weekly . Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  7. Human Trafficking in Calgary: Informing a Localized Response (Report). March 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  8. "Government of Canada Launches National Victims of Crime Awareness Week". Sys-Con Media. April 23, 2012. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
  9. "Harper Government Takes Action To Combat Human Trafficking in Edmonton". Status of Women Canada Website. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2014.