The crisis

In Canada, human trafficking often takes place in large urban centres, and also occurs in smaller cities and communities, largely for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Organized criminal networks, as well as individuals, perpetrate this crime, operating within Canada’s borders and internationally. Traffickers reap large profits while robbing victims of their freedom, dignity and human potential at great cost to the individual and society at large. Traffickers control their victims in various ways such as taking away their identity documents and passports, sexual abuse, threats, intimidation, physical violence, and isolation. Victims suffer physical or emotional abuse and often live and work in horrific conditions. They may also face fatal consequences if they attempt to escape.

In 1984 the SA Foundation began it's work in Calgary, Canada and now has safe houses and programs in multiple cities across Canada.

The crisis

Forced sexual exploitation in massage parlours highlights the particular vulnerabilities of foreign nationals to modern slavery in the United States. A report released in early 2018 by Polaris estimates that there are more than 9,000 illicit massage businesses in the United States with total annual revenue of US$2.5 billion. Women exploited in massage parlours tend to be recently arrived migrants from China or South Korea. They are typically mothers in their mid-30s to late 50s, who have received no higher than a high school level education, have limited English language skills, and face financial burdens.

The same situations of pimps targeting runaway teens or vulnerable women as in Canada occurs frequently in the U.S. with tens of thousands of girls trapped in motels, sold on the street and on sites such as BackPage, and used in the porn industry.

The crisis

Nepal is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. The 1,750km open and porous border between India and Nepal is a dream for traffickers and a nightmare for those trying to stop them. It has helped this crossing become one of the busiest human trafficking routes in the world. More than 23,000 women and girls were victims of trafficking in 2016 according to the annual report published by the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal. However, numbers could rise to 40,000 Nepalese victims a year, according to NGOs in the field. Last year, a study conducted by Sashastra Seema Bal, the Indian armed border force, said detected cases of trafficking from Nepal to India had risen by 500% since 2013.

Nepali women and girls are subjected to sex trafficking in Nepal, India, the Middle East, Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Nepali men, women, and children are subjected to forced labor in Nepal, India, the Middle East, and Asia in construction, factories, mines, domestic work, begging, and the adult entertainment industry. In recent years there has been a significant rise in domestic exploitation, where women and girls are sexually exploited within the dance bars and restaurants of the larger cities.

The crisis

Arising from its geographical situation Hungary lies in the crossroad of east-western and south-eastern migration. Hungary is primarily a source and transit country for women and girls subjected to trafficking for sexual exploitation. The main destination countries in terms of trafficking for sexual exploitation are the Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Besides the transnational form, human trafficking exists in Hungary internally in a lesser extent too. Within the country the exploitation of victims is concentrated in the capital and its surroundings, around Lake Balaton and along the Austrian border.

The crisis

Prostitution is legal in Germany and, although the government increased protections for commercial sex workers through laws regulating the prostitution industry, there have been limited efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex. Forced sexual exploitation represented the vast majority (90 percent, or 488 cases) of all identified cases of modern slavery in Germany in 2016. (Global Slavery Index)

Germany is a source, transit, and destination country for women, children, and men subjected to sex and labor trafficking. Most identified sex trafficking victims in Germany are EU citizens, primarily Bulgarians, Romanians, and Germans, although victims also come from most other regions of the world, particularly China, Nigeria, and other parts of Africa.

The crisis

Greece is a destination, transit, and, to a limited extent, source country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking and men, women, and children subjected to forced labor. Some women and children from Eastern and Southern Europe, South Asia, Russia, Nigeria, and China are subjected to sex trafficking in unlicensed brothels, on the street, in strip clubs, in massage salons, and in hotels.

The crisis

Bulgaria is a source and, to a lesser extent, transit and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor. Bulgaria remains one of the primary source countries of human trafficking in the EU. The government and NGOs report a significant increase in the number of Bulgarian and Roma victims subjected to forced servitude, particularly in Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Bulgarians of Turkish ethnicity and Romani women and girls, some as young as 13 years old, account for most of the sex trafficking victims identified in Bulgaria, particularly in the capital, resort areas, and border towns.

Bulgarian women and children are subjected to sex trafficking throughout Europe. Victims are increasingly exploited through a combination of sexual and labor exploitation, including domestic servitude. Government corruption in law enforcement and the judiciary continues to enable some trafficking crimes, and officials have been investigated for suspected involvement in trafficking.

The crisis

Italy is a bridge between Africa, Asia, and Europe where criminal networking and sexual exploitation are thriving. There are estimated to be 120,000 victims of sex trafficking in Italy today. Some reports indicate that Italy has more victims of trafficking per capita than any other country in Europe.

Women from developing countries, primarily Nigerian, are ensnared and enslaved into sex trafficking, and are currently living in poverty in the high economy society context of Italy. Safe accommodations and recovery programming in Italy are heavily lacking in comparison to the living quarters created by the criminal network to house its victims.