Sexual Exploitation & Trafficking

Sexual exploitation and trafficking are among the most egregious forms of violence against girls in Canada. At Justice for Girls, we support individual girls who are currently or have previously been sexually exploited or trafficked, and we advocate systemically to address the root causes of exploitation. Our approach is intersectional and grounded in human rights, and we fight for systemic reforms at the local, national, and international levels — including through the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

Justice for Girls regularly receives reports from social workers and community professionals:

When girls are located, police may report they were “found safe” even if they had been beaten, sexually assaulted, kidnapped, or trafficked.

In many northern and rural communities, girls face:

inadequate health care and mental health services, substandard or no housing, barriers to education, limited or absent transportation and emergency supports

“Man camps” have been linked to serious social harms, including increased rates of:

sexual exploitation, human trafficking, sexual assault and violence against girls and women, and missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG)

Our Individual Advocacy

Justice for Girls provides legal advocacy and support to girls who have been trafficked or exploited. We assist girls in navigating legal systems, accessing protection, and connecting with trauma-informed services. Our legal advocacy ensures girls are supported, not criminalized — and that their experiences are acknowledged, respected, and taken seriously by authorities.

We frequently support girls who are failed by multiple systems — including child welfare, health care, and policing — and are left to navigate complex and dangerous situations with little to no protection. Many of the girls we support are Indigenous, racialized, or living in poverty, and face barriers at every turn.

Systemic Advocacy & International Human Rights Work

Our systemic advocacy aims to end the trafficking and sexual exploitation of girls through:

  • Policy and law reform, including opposing laws that criminalize exploited youth or fail to prosecute exploiters.
  • Public education to raise awareness about the root causes and systemic nature of exploitation.
  • International advocacy, such as our recent submission to CEDAW highlighting Canada’s ongoing failure to prevent, investigate, and prosecute the trafficking and sexual exploitation of girls — particularly Indigenous girls.

Child Welfare, Disappearance, and Police Neglect

Girls in the child welfare system are significantly more vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation.1 Indigenous girls are vastly overrepresented in care and are at even higher risk.2 Justice for Girls regularly receives reports from social workers and community professionals that:

  • Police are slow to issue alerts when Indigenous girls in care go missing.3
  • Authorities downplay disappearances, labelling girls as “runaways.”4
  • When girls are located, police may report they were “found safe” even if they had been beaten, sexually assaulted, kidnapped, or trafficked.5

JFG has documented disturbing cases where girls from care were not taken seriously by police, and we are investigating potential police misconduct in both rural and urban regions of British Columbia. These girls are often not included in official trafficking statistics, despite overwhelming evidence of sexual exploitation.6 The culture of impunity for violence against Indigenous girls persists.7

Key Actions

Helping girls navigate legal systems, accessing protection, and connecting with trauma-informed services
Opposing laws that criminalize exploited youth or fail to prosecute exploiters
Raising awareness about the root causes and systemic nature of exploitation
Speaking out on Canada’s ongoing failure to prevent, investigate, and prosecute the trafficking and sexual exploitation of girls

Related reports and submissions

See all

Indigenous and Rural Girls: Disproportionate Risk and Systemic Neglect

Justice for Girls has consistently observed that girls from Indigenous and rural communities experience some of the gravest forms of sexual violence, exploitation, and trafficking. These human rights violations occur within a broader context of systemic inequality and government neglect. In many northern and rural communities, girls face:

  • Inadequate health care and mental health services8
  • Substandard or no housing9
  • Barriers to education10
  • Limited or absent transportation and emergency supports11

These compounding failures by the Canadian government leave girls disproportionately vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking, especially in regions where police resources are limited, and the response to missing or exploited girls is inadequate or dismissive. Girls living in poverty and without local supports are often left completely unprotected.12

The Impact of Extractive Industries and Man Camps

Justice for Girls has long advocated for the protection of girls living in areas affected by resource extraction projects, such as pipelines and mining operations. These projects bring an influx of male-dominated temporary workforces — sometimes thousands of men — housed in industrial work camps (“man camps”). These camps have been consistently linked to increases in:

  • Sexual exploitation13
  • Human trafficking14
  • Sexual assault and violence against girls and women15
  • Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG)16

Our submissions to both CEDAW and the BC Human Rights Commissioner highlight the role of these industries in fueling exploitation and the government’s failure to regulate and monitor them adequately. Extractive projects endanger Indigenous girls’ lives and well-being, particularly in remote areas where protections are weakest.17

Lack of Reliable Data 

Despite the severe and ongoing nature of trafficking and exploitation in Canada, data remains sparse and unreliable, especially for girls and Indigenous youth. Justice for Girls continues to raise urgent concerns about:

  • The lack of disaggregated data (by age, gender, race, geography)18
  • Underreporting of exploitation and trafficking19
  • Inconsistencies between jurisdictions20
  • The exclusion of community and unofficial data sources21

At Justice for Girls, we fight for a world where no girl is exploited, trafficked, or left behind by systems that are meant to protect her. We support girls in crisis and push for fundamental systemic change to end the conditions that enable this violence. We recognize that the root causes — colonialism, poverty, gender-based violence, racism, and government neglect — must be dismantled if girls are to be truly safe and free.

Our advocacy is grounded in the lived experiences of the girls we work with. We will continue to fight — in courtrooms, communities, legislatures, and international forums — for the rights, protection, and dignity of every girl.

Justice for Girls is fighting to end sexual exploitation and trafficking in Canada. Will you stand with us?

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  1. Canadian Women’s Foundation. (2021). Trafficking and exploitation of girls in care. https://canadianwomen.org/the-facts/violence-against-women/trafficking-exploitation/
    Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth (Ontario). (2018). Child welfare and youth trafficking: Risk factors and recommendations. https://provincialadvocate.on.ca/resources/reports/child-welfare-and-youth-trafficking-risk-factors/
    Native Women’s Association of Canada. (2016). Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls: Understanding the root causes. https://nwac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/RootCausesReport2016.pdf ↩︎
  2. First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada. (2022). The overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system. Retrieved from https://fncaringsociety.com/child-welfare
    Assembly of First Nations. (2020). Closing the gaps: First Nations child and family services reform. https://www.afn.ca/uploads/files/afn_cfs_reform_report_2020.pdf
    Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies. (2021). Supporting Indigenous youth in care: Challenges and strategies. https://www.oacas.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Supporting-Indigenous-Youth-in-Care.pdf ↩︎
  3. Missing Children Society of Canada. (2023). Systemic delays and gaps in police responses to missing Indigenous girls. Retrieved from https://missingkids.ca/en/research/systemic-delays-police-response-indigenous-girls
    National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/
    Canadian Human Rights Commission. (2021). Addressing the crisis of missing Indigenous girls and youth. https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/eng/content/addressing-crisis-missing-indigenous-girls-and-youth ↩︎
  4. Child Welfare League of Canada. (2018). Youth in care and criminalization: The impact of labels and systemic bias. Retrieved from https://www.cwlc.ca/youth-in-care-and-criminalization/
    Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. (2020). Misogyny and racism in policing Indigenous girls. https://policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/misogyny-and-racism-policing-indigenous-girls
    Human Rights Watch. (2022). “Everyone knows”: Failures to protect Indigenous women and girls. https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/02/10/everyone-knows/failures-protect-indigenous-women-and-girls-canada
    National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/ ↩︎
  5. National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/ ↩︎
  6. Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking. (2019). Human Trafficking in Canada: A Snapshot. https://www.canadiancentretoendhumantrafficking.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Human-Trafficking-Snapshot-EN.pdf ↩︎
  7. Amnesty International. (2004). Stolen Sisters: A Human Rights Response to Violence and Discrimination against Indigenous Women in Canada. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.ca/sites/default/files/AI5641_StolenSisters.pdf ↩︎
  8. Statistics Canada. (2022, June 20). Indigenous women and girls: Socioeconomic conditions. Retrieved from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2022001/article/00005-eng.htm ↩︎
  9. National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health. (2020). Poverty as a social determinant of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis health. Retrieved from https://www.nccih.ca/docs/determinants/FS-Poverty-SDOH-FNMI-2020-EN.pdf ↩︎
  10. Standing Committee on the Status of Women, Parliament of Canada. (2021). Challenges faced by women living in rural, remote and northern Canada. Retrieved from https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/432/FEWO/Reports/RP11410631/feworp09-e.pdf ↩︎
  11. Standing Committee on the Status of Women, Parliament of Canada. (2021). Challenges faced by women living in rural, remote and northern Canada. Retrieved from https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/432/FEWO/Reports/RP11410631/feworp09-e.pdf ↩︎
  12. Native Women’s Association of Canada. (2018). Human trafficking and violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada: Issues & recommendations (p. 7). Retrieved from https://www.nwac.ca/assets-documents/Issues_in_Human_trafficking_and_MMIWG2S.pdf ↩︎
  13. The Firelight Group, Lake Babine Nation & Nak’azdli Whut’en. (2017). Indigenous Communities and Industrial Camps: Promoting Healthy Communities in Settings of Industrial Change. Retrieved from Firelight Group website: https://firelight.ca/assets/publications/reports/firelight-work-camps-feb-8-2017.pdf ↩︎
  14. British Columbia Ministry of Public Safety & Solicitor General. (2019). BC’s Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/public-safety-and-emergency-services/crime-prevention/community-crime-prevention/publications/bcs_strategy_to_combat_human_trafficking.pdf ↩︎
  15. Standing Committee on the Status of Women (FEWO). (2022). Responding to the Calls for Justice: Addressing Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls in the Context of Resource Development Projects. https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/FEWO/report-5/page-99 ↩︎
  16. Amnesty International. (2016). Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Gender, Indigenous Rights, and Energy Development in Northeast British Columbia. https://www.amnesty.ca/sites/default/files/Out%20of%20Sight%20Out%20of%20Mind%20EN%20Final.pdf ↩︎
  17. The Narwhal. (2020). B.C. failed to consider links between ‘man camps,’ violence against Indigenous women, Wet’suwet’en argue. https://thenarwhal.ca/b-c-failed-to-consider-links-between-man-camps-violence-against-indigenous-women-wetsuweten-argue ↩︎
  18. Baglay, S., & Atak, I. (2025). Data collection and reporting on human trafficking in Canada. Frontiers in Human Dynamics, 6, Article 1426605. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2024.1426605/full ↩︎
  19. Peterson, C. (2018). Trafficking of Indigenous women and girls in Canada. Native Women’s Association of Canada. https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/JUST/Brief/BR10002955/br-external/NativeWomensAssociationOfCanada-e.pdf ↩︎
  20. House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women (FEWO). (2023). Act Now: Preventing human trafficking of women, girls and gender-diverse people in Canada (Rep. No. 10). https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/44-1/FEWO/report-10/page-23 ↩︎
  21. Sisters in Spirit Research Team. (2009). Voices of Our Sisters in Spirit: A Report to Families and Communities. Native Women’s Association of Canada. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisters_in_Spirit ↩︎

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