Polaris, Consejo Ciudadano, and The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking gathered virtually to enhance regional cooperation to assist victims and survivors of human trafficking. The three organizations – which operate national human trafficking hotlines in the United States, Mexico and Canada, respectively – shared data and perspectives on emerging trends and discussed opportunities for collaboration to prevent and respond to human trafficking across North America.
This year’s annual meeting focused on labor exploitation in the region. The three partners reiterated the importance of strategic partnerships to combat human trafficking collectively in the United States, Canada and Mexico, including greater collaboration between North American governments to address the root causes of labor exploitation.
“To respond to the workers’ mobility in North America, we need a robust safety net that effectively identifies and connects victims and survivors of human trafficking, and related exploitation, to appropriate services. During the summit we focused on strategies to enhance regional cooperation to assist victims and survivors of human trafficking, share data on emerging trends, and identifying opportunities for collaboration in public policy advocacy to prevent and respond to human trafficking across the region,” says Andrea Rojas, Director of Strategic Initiative on Labor Trafficking at Polaris. Polaris operates the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
“There is a growing need for governments to act decisively to combat labor trafficking in North America. Non-profit organizations cannot do this work alone. National strategies and policies can help coordinate our collective efforts towards making resources more available to victims and survivors,” says Julia Drydyk, Executive Director, The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking. The Centre operates The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010, a confidential, multi-lingual service that is available 24/7.
“One quarter of Consejo Ciudadano’s human trafficking-related attention is related to labor exploitation and forced labor. It has also detected that migrants are victims of extortion, fraud, kidnapping, and forced labor for criminal groups. Hence, the relevance of Consejo’s coordination with local and federal authorities to share data on how traffickers operate, risk situations and places where the crime occurs; in addition to participating in the design of prevention policies, attention to victims, and monitoring judicial processes,” says Salvador Guerrero Chiprés, president of Consejo Ciudadano. Consejo Ciudadano operates the National Hotline and Chat against Human Trafficking at 800 5533 000, to prevent, provide care and combat this crime in Mexico.
Three organizations will meet regularly to continue learning from each other’s experiences and raise awareness among migrants and temporary foreign workers at-risk of being exploited in North America. Hotlines in the three countries will work more closely to provide more appropriate, trauma-informed referrals and person-centred assistance to victims and survivors of human trafficking traveling in North America.
For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact:
Flor Canseco, Consejo Ciudadano
prensa@consejociudadanomx.org
Rafael Flores, Polaris
rflores@polarisproject.org
Aziz Froutan, The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking
afroutan@ccteht.ca
