PEMBROKE — On Wednesday, May 23, members of the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP Detachment along with the OPP Anti-Human Trafficking Investigation Coordination Unit, East Region Regional Support Team, Military Police of Garrison Petawawa, RCMP, Victim Services of Renfrew County and the Ottawa Police Service Human Trafficking Unit conducted a proactive covert victim centered operation in the City of Pembroke.
The project involved the identification of workers in the Upper Ottawa Valley area involved in the sex trade, and looking for signs of human trafficking. Human trafficking involves the recruitment, transportation or harbouring of persons for the purposes of exploitation, typically in the sex industry or for forced labour. The OPP is committed to fighting human trafficking through intelligence-gathering and working cooperatively with our law enforcement and community partners to support victims and investigate offences.
The extent of human trafficking is difficult to measure, although we know that human trafficking is no longer confined to big cities alone. These offences are particularly clandestine in nature and victims or witnesses are often reluctant to come forward to authorities.
Victims of human trafficking may:
– Not self-identify as victims of human trafficking;
– Not appear to be in need of community-based social services because they have a place to live, food to eat, medical care and what they think is a paying job;
– Be taught to distrust outsiders, especially law enforcement;
This operation was an excellent demonstration of collaboration involving various internal and external partners all in support of community safety. The project team was able to utilize local knowledge along with experience from internal and external members to ensure this operation was conducted safely and efficiently. The Upper Ottawa Valley OPP remains committed to their community mobilization efforts with the ultimate goal of reducing victimization and increasing their community’s overall safety and well-being
