A BC author says child sex trafficking is a real, but preventable problem in Canada..Cathy Peters released her book Child Sex Trafficking in Canada and How to Stop It in June. In the wake of public interest in the movie Sound of Freedom, Peters told the Western Standard how child exploitation manifests in Canada..“There is definitely an increased sexualization of youth and children that's occurring. As a result, you get increased childhood sexual assault and incest. That is not something we talk about, but it is very much there and a problem,” she said..“Pornography is definitely the fuel for the sex industry. It's an industry that has a very strong, powerful business model. And they are targeting young people, especially boys…And once they're hooked, they will act out on what they view.”.Parents might better protect children if they knew how, Peters said..“There's a lack of digital safety training, so families don't know how to protect their young people online. That's a concern. Social media, apps, gaming sites, they have very little accountability, so they get away with all kinds of things,” she said..“The big shift in grooming online now is that the predators keep asking – ask, ask, ask. They don't quit until they get a response. And youth eventually, will break down and respond, unfortunately, and send something. They'll send a nude and then there, that's all the predator needs.”.Peters, a former inner-city high school teacher, launched the Be Amazing Campaign in 2020 to stop sexual exploitation. She said teachers can be a great ally to parents but schools have become increasingly adversarial..“There's a lack of positive parenting support. Parents feel they're getting sidelined. Typically, with schools, for example, they don't feel they have a voice. They feel in some cases, they can't go to the school board or go to meetings and voice their concerns. They're shut down. They're not listened to.".“And when I present to school districts, I do remind them that the parents are their allies and taxpayers. And they really do need to listen to parents, not sideline them and work together with them. I think that's really, really important.”.Schools and public facilities that have adopted policies to allow biological males in female washrooms have left some biological girls feeling less safe..“A really big concern is women and girls are losing their safe spaces because of the transgenderism movement. I'm getting a lot of complaints from women and girls,” she said..“Schools really have become recruiting grounds for gangs and for human trafficking. Rape cultures are developing in schools. You've got young people hooked on pornography…so they will act out and, they will act out at school. And I wouldn't say the administration, or the teachers, are really trained to know what to do.”.The North Vancouver resident said defund the police movements helped push public liaison officers out of Vancouver schools, but they will return this September out of necessity. She said BC is the weak link in Canada at handling human trafficking, in contrast to Alberta..“Crime was spiking in the schools in Vancouver, so they realized they have to get the officers back into the school. Those officers would work with at-risk youth and mentor them and really come alongside them so that they don't choose to go into negative activities and gangs.”.Peters said she has done more presentations to health authorities lately because of things they have begun to notice..“They're seeing a huge increase of sexual assault coming in to the emergency department. And they know something's kind of off with it. So when I present to them, I connect the dots that actually it could be human trafficking, especially that the young girl is coming in with an older man.”
