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Ontario to invest $307 million to combat human trafficking

Ontario has announced a $307-million investment to combat human trafficking in the province.
During a news conference Friday morning at Kristen French Child Advocacy Centre in Niagara Falls, Premier Doug Ford revealed the new, comprehensive five-year strategy to help protect children and youth and crackdown on offenders.
“Human traffickers prey on the most vulnerable members of our society ― our children,” said Ford in a news release. “We must put an end to this disgusting industry and take immediate steps to keep our kids safe. Our new strategy takes strong and decisive action to support survivors, raise awareness, and give our police the tools and resources they need to put these criminals behind bars.”
Roughly two-thirds of police-reported human trafficking violations in Canada happen in Ontario.
The province says this new investment is a “major step forward” in Ontario’s fight against human trafficking.
The strategy will focus on four key areas which include raising awareness of the issue, holding offenders accountable, protecting victims and intervening early, and supporting survivors.
“Survivors of human trafficking require specific, ongoing supports to help them exit trafficking, heal from their trauma and rebuild their lives,” said Jill Dunlop, Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues in a news release. “Our new strategy doubles the investment in community-based services for survivors, while also providing a range of new supports focused on children and youth, which has been a critical gap until now. It provides increased supports for Indigenous communities and takes a cross-government approach to reinforce Ontario as a leader in combatting human trafficking.”
Over 70 per cent of human trafficking victims identified by police are under the age of 25.
The province also revealed methods to address the needs of First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and organizations, and frontline workers. Targeted public awareness activities, Indigenous-led community-based supports for survivors such as counselling, cultural teachings and healing ceremonies, victim services delivered by Indigenous communities and organizations, and culturally-appropriate supports for at-risk youth will be integrated into the strategy.
“Human trafficking is a vastly under-reported crime often hidden in our communities,” said Sylvia Jones, Solicitor General in a news release. “A crucial component of our new strategy involves strengthening law enforcement and justice sector initiatives so we can better support victims, improve our ability to target and find perpetrators, intercept human trafficking networks and ultimately bring criminals to justice.”