Thank you so much.

I first want to acknowledge that we're meeting on unceded Algonquin Anishinabe territory. It is especially important for me not only to ground myself in acknowledging the land I'm occupying as a settler when doing anti-trafficking work, but also to stand in solidarity with its first people, especially because of the overrepresentation of indigenous women and girls and two-spirit folks, who are overwhelmingly targeted for human trafficking.

My name is Krystal Snider. I want to acknowledge my colleagues Nicole Taylor and Nneka MacGregor, who co-authored this submission, as well as the many survivors who have provided critical input. I am lead project consultant for a program called “Embedding, Resilience, & Grounding Resistance”, led by the Women's Centre for Social Justice, better known as WomenatthecentrE.

Thank you for the opportunity to be here to speak and participate in this important study. As a survivor of domestic sex trafficking and the child welfare system, and the daughter of a mother who attended Ontario training schools, having the opportunity to speak about prevention and accountability is significant and impactful.

WomenatthecentrE's anti-trafficking project, funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada, is a project led and developed by and for survivors of various forms of trafficking and exploitation. Through the project, we're conducting community-based participatory research with other survivors of trafficking, creating a national network of survivors of trafficking, developing a national survivor strategy and providing training for peer workers, media, hotel staff, health care, law enforcement and frontline agencies.

WomenatthecentrE wants to acknowledge the incredible work that has been done and is being done across what we now call Canada. We're grateful for the many wonderful people who are working tirelessly to disrupt and eradicate trafficking nationwide.

Since the project began, we have amplified our engagements with survivors to document what is and isn't working and what will lead to long-term and sustainable change. These include specific gaps related to the ongoing arrest and convictions of survivors of trafficking as traffickers; holding survivors accountable for other crimes committed while under the control of a trafficker; and the consistent overrepresentation of Black, indigenous and racialized women, girls, two-spirit, gender-diverse and trans individuals who are not only disproportionately trafficked but also disproportionately charged and convicted of crimes related to their trafficking.

One of our recommendations is that the United Nations non-punishment principle be adopted and embedded in training for law enforcement across the country for consistency and alignment with the rights of survivors. The non-punishment principle states that a survivor of trafficking cannot be held legally accountable for a crime committed while under a trafficker's control. Further to this, we recommend that service agencies adopt the same framework and provide supports to survivors who have recruited others while under the direction of a trafficker.

In addition, the laws related to sex work are again to be challenged in the Supreme Court in the near future. We want to caution against the conflation of sex work with sex trafficking. We acknowledge that there's a divide between sex workers and sex worker rights advocates and those impacted or trafficked in the industry, but we do want to shine light on the significant harm that has come against sex workers as a result of adopting the Nordic model—most notably, the harm to and mass deportation of migrant sex workers who do not identify as trafficked. We encourage the federal government to create pathways for conversation between these divided groups, to uphold the rights of sex workers by engaging such organizations as Butterfly and to adopt a GBA+ lens, which includes impacts on sex workers, when creating or amending existing legislation.

WomenatthecentrE states that the consistent use of victimization language and “saviourism” by individuals and organizations involved in anti-trafficking efforts, including law enforcement and service providers, is demeaning and a testament to just how helpless and broken the structures and systems think we might be. These systems and structures are meant to provide support and assistance to survivors of exploitation, and sometimes are the sites of further trauma and revictimization. They fail to take into account the diverse needs of survivors, especially, as we stated above, those who are what our board co-chair, Dr. Tope Adefarakan, refers to as “living on the margins of the margins”—Black and indigenous people; women; girls; two-spirit, gender-diverse and trans people; youth; those living with disabilities; those with precarious status, etc.

I'll wrap it up, but hopefully we can get to the rest of this. Thanks for having me. I'm happy to answer your questions.

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