This initiative reinforces several myths about trafficking. Let's dive in! https://twitter.com/StopTrafficking/status/1200087323293241344

First, the prevalence of trafficking. This report says Ontario has more incidents than any other province.

Ontario is the most populous province in Canada. Almost 40% of the population lives there. It makes perfect sense that it would have more reports of trafficking — and every other type of crime.

Second, this report cites three statistics to claim that trafficking is a major problem in Ontario. The first two aren't prevalence statistics — neither says how many reports were made.

The third is completely false.

A number of fact-checking websites have looked into this claim. It comes from a survey where researchers asked sex workers how old they were *the first time they had sex.* That's not the same as the first time they did sex work.
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/09/is-one-of-the-most-cited-statistics-about-sex-work-wrong/379662/

Even Polaris, one of America's largest anti-trafficking organizations, says this statistic is false.

Why are government reports citing numbers that don't hold up to a 5 minute google search?

https://polarisproject.org/blog/2016/01/05/average-age-entry-myth

We should note that the government's plans to address trafficking actually include some hopeful signs. A lot of the money is going toward housing and trauma-informed counseling. These plans are extremely vague, but they could end up being good!

https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2019/11/20-million-in-yearly-funding-for-anti-human-trafficking-programs.html

However, Ontario's response to trafficking so far does not inspire confidence. Here's a report on how the Toronto city government has addressed trafficking so far.
https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2019/ec/bgrd/backgroundfile-132985.pdf

The Canadian government claims trafficking is a huge and growing problem. And yet, only *six* people have been arrested for soliciting underage sex workers *since 2014.*

The "support services" numbers are even worse. Compare the estimates of prevalence produced by law enforcement to the units of housing available for victims.

Fewer than 45.

Victims of trafficking exist. They are primarily vulnerable groups (queer, undocumented, poor, foster kids) who engage in "survival sex" for shelter or are coerced into sex work by a romantic partner. They need housing and income and mental health and addiction care. Desperately.

Maybe Ontario's new strategy really will help them! We're not optimistic about that, but we're open and hopeful about the possibility. The province's approach so far, however, doesn't inspire confidence.