Gabrielle Giroux says she was a 14-year-old girl shopping at an Outaouais mall when she met the man who sold her to human traffickers. Over the next five years, the man used grooming tactics to build a relationship of trust and affection. When she was 19, he sold her to an exploitation network – a network where she was beaten, raped and made to have sex for money. “There was no alarm in my head… Nothing sexual, it seemed fine,” Giroux, now 27, told Radio-Canada in a French-language interview. “The process started insidiously with pokes, small gifts, listening and advice. Comments like, ‘You’re mature for your age.’ He suggested that she start working in a strip club. One night when she told him she wanted to stop, he said he locked her in a basement. “He sold me … I didn’t see the sale, but I found out they sold me for $15,000. I was owned from that moment on,” Giroux said. Giroux said she had to bring back $1,000 a day working in motels in the Outaouais, but also in other locations in Quebec and Ontario.
Challenges in policing
Her story reflects broader trends regarding human and sex trafficking in the National Capital Region, where many jurisdictions can present challenges in policing the crimes. According to Statistics Canada, one in 10 police-reported human trafficking incidents in Canada between 2010 and 2020 occurred in Ottawa — second only to Toronto. Police in Gatineau, Que., say the number of human trafficking-related investigations has doubled in the past two years. Ottawa police did not provide updated statistics by CBC/Radio-Canada’s deadline. Julia Drydyk, executive director at the Canadian Center to End Human Trafficking, said the center’s survivor hotline receives the most calls from Ontario and people who have moved along the highway corridor between Montreal and Windsor. “The data reported by the police is the tip of the iceberg. The vast majority of victims and survivors we work with have many reasons to be reluctant to engage with law enforcement,” Drydyk said.
Wealthy clientele, vulnerable populations
Wendy Gee, executive director of A New Day Youth and Adult Services, said the presence of tourists, diplomats, the federal government and two universities creates a level of affluence where there is income available to pay for sex. “They could be anybody,” Gee said. Gee said her crisis shelter has four beds and has a steady waiting list of five to 10 youth with constant new referrals. He said he had a referral for a child as young as 12 in the past six months. Gee said her Ottawa-based team has seen calls for help triple since before the pandemic. (Radio-Canada) Gee said, as a primary location for services for Indigenous people from remote and northern communities, Ottawa also brings potentially vulnerable people to the region. According to the Department of Public Safety, half of the victims of human trafficking in Canada are Indigenous women, while they represent only 4% of the total population. “We are in this corridor that comes from North to South plus we are in the corridor, [Highway] 401, which is very busy,” Gee said.
Matter of Jurisdiction
Gatineau Police Insp. Mathieu Guilbeault leads the Integrated Pimping Team West. His team works with the Ottawa Police Service, the OPP and many municipal police agencies in Quebec. “Even if we maximize our resources, even if we have dedicated teams, we cannot do it alone. For this, it is important to create a good network with our partners,” Guibeault said in French. Drydick said traffickers have a history of moving between municipalities where police forces tend not to communicate with each other. He said Quebec has led the way in developing trauma-informed police units that can be coordinated across jurisdictions. Ontario now has a similar unit, but Drydyk said more work needs to be done across the country and between provinces
“If I die, I die”
When Giroux realized her traffickers were sending her to Calgary, she decided to escape. She made her move on the way to the airport.
“I was thrown from the back of the van. Again, I was in a very public place, nobody was doing anything. I said to myself at that moment: if I’m going to die, I’m going to die,” Giroux said.
“I hit the ground with my eyes closed… Then I got up and ran without ever looking back.”
Giroux said the authorities did not believe her the first time she reported her traffickers. An investigator knocked on her door only years later, after Guilbaud’s group was formed, while following up on complaints from other victims who had identified the same traffickers, she said.
Giroux said the charges took four years to work their way through the legal system.
According to Statistics Canada, legal cases related to human trafficking take more than twice as long as cases involving violent crime — an average of 373 days compared to 176.
Giroux wants to warn young people about the dangers and reality of human trafficking.
“If I had been told the truth about things when I was young, when my brain was ready to accept that kind of information, I’m sure I would have known about it. And maybe it could have been prevented,” she said. he said.
Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through it Ending Violence Association of Canada database and specifically on human trafficking through the federal government. If you are in immediate danger or fear for your safety or the safety of others around you, call 911.
