The Reality of Human Trafficking with Joy Smith

Most people associate human trafficking with international borders. They would most likely be very surprised to find out that over 90% of Canada’s trafficking victims come from within the border, with an average age of 12-14, from the upper middle class. This week, Carrie invites one of Canada’s leading anti-trafficking activists, Joy Smith, in the Inner Circle this week to dig into this dark reality of life with us. She and Joy talk about how this happens in the first place, the common misconceptions about trafficking, what it looks like, how to protect your family, and stories from real-life cases. They also discuss Joy’s time as a member of parliament and her foundation The Joy Smith Foundation, which works to ensure that every Canadian man, woman, and child is safe from manipulation, force, or abuse of power.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

The grim reality that human trafficking is getting worse, and now more than ever we need more involvement and awareness on the issue.
The shocking statistics on trafficking and a few of the 4,243 examples Joy has seen in her 25 years of experience.
The major misconceptions about human trafficking, the most targeted age group, and the harsh reality that it can happen to anyone at any time.
How the buying and selling of people are even able to exist, and how these criminals dupe and trick their way into the system.
More details on exactly what human trafficking looks like, and the warning signs and red flags to look out for.
What to do / who to call if you suspect someone you know is being trafficked. You can make a difference.
How it can be that traffickers make over $260k - $280k per victim per year.
That not only does it happen inside Canada’s walls, but 93% of humans trafficked within the country are Canadian born and upper middle class.
Why it’s tough to pin down a certain place where traffickers may be both in real life and online.
How we should be speaking about it, and at what age the conversation should start.
What we can do to get stricter laws passed so human trafficking can finally come to an end.
More about Joy’s time as a member of Parliament, and the two laws she put into place. Also, how she started The Joy Smith Foundation and the accomplishments it has brought since forming.
Her brave mindset towards fear and how she processes hearing and seeing the worst of the worst.