A storefront along a popular stretch of Queen Street is hosting a unique new advertising campaign aimed at raising awareness about a topic advocates say does not receive enough attention— the dangers of sex trafficking in Canada.
Covenant House, a Toronto-based agency that provides services to at-risk youth, is behind the ‘Shoppable Girls’ campaign, which features live models on display in a storefront on the street, which is known to be a hotspot for Toronto shoppers.
The girls are advertised as “The Amara,” “The Michaela,” “The Samantha,” “The Ellie,” and “The Maya,” and a large sign with bold lettering appears alongside the models.
“To sex traffickers, girls are just products. Unsuspecting girls are being lured into the sex industry and forced to sell their bodies for someone else’s profit. It’s called sex trafficking, and it’s happening here at home,” the signs reads.
Text at the bottom of the sign directs people to the campaign’s website, shoppablegirls.com, to learn about the warning signs.
On the campaign’s website, Covenant House highlights a number of notable facts about sex trafficking, including the statistic that 90 per cent of victims are females.
Covenant House says victims are as young as 13 years old when they are first recruited and sex trafficking victims are found at malls, parties, bus stations, and online.
The campaign also points out common myths associated with sex trafficking, including the belief that traffickers are typically strangers and that only lower income youth become victims.
Another big misconception is that sex trafficking victims are not Canadian citizens, Julie Neubauer, the program manager of anti-trafficking services at Covenant House, said.
“In fact 93 per cent of sex trafficking victims are Canadian citizens," Neubauer noted in a news release issued earlier this week.
"No one chooses to be trafficked. And the truth is that it's happening in our communities, to our children and often right in front of us. Yet many times the signs go unnoticed by those in the best position to help."
Covenant House, which launched its anti-trafficking plan in 2016, says so far, it has supported more than 200 survivors of sex trafficking.
A billion-dollar industry
According to Toronto police, sex trafficking in Canada is a billion-dollar industry and can be more lucrative than the smuggling of drugs or illegal firearms.
“We see an unfortunately high number of cases where a young child's vulnerable state was exploited and in many cases, they were approached through social media platforms,” Det.-Sgt. David Correa, an investigator with the Toronto Police Service’s human trafficking enforcement team, said in a written statement this week.
“This is a domestic problem and our victims come from all walks of life and from neighbourhoods that represent all segments of the city.”
Covenant House says it hopes the campaign starts a larger conversation about sex trafficking ahead of Human Trafficking Awareness Day on Feb. 22.
“We need to continue to build awareness that this issue is happening to create a dialogue and a vocabulary with parents, caregivers, and young people so that they can actually understand what sex trafficking is,” Neubaue said Thursday.
Speaking to reporters on Queen Street, Mayor John Tory said the "unusual" display appears to be attracting attention from people passing by.
"I hope that (with) this display here… that we’ll be able to make some progress on this issue because it is something that it is I think is lurking beneath the surface and is something that can quite frankly destroy the lives of a lot of young people before their lives hardly get started," Tory said.
