End Slavery Day 2008 Event
Eileen Kerwin Jones
– “Human Trafficking: A Global Issue”
- We live in a world of 27 million slaves – almost the entire population of Canada.
- Contemporary slavery differs from slavery in the past: Today, it is illegal, the cost of slaves is lower, profit margins are higher, slaves are disposable commodities, and race/ethnicity function in different ways. No country is immune to slavery.
- Trafficking is the third largest illicit industry; up to four million people are trafficked annually.
- Men, women, children, and sometimes entire families, are enslaved in many exploitive activities.
- Slavery is a grossly unequal relationship qualified by three critical dimensions: violence, coercion and economic exploitation.
- The Palermo Protocol, ratified by Canada in 2002, is an international response to human trafficking and contemporary slavery.
- Trafficked persons need temporary residence, service provision, respect for their human agency, protection from reprisals, justice and the opportunity to bring civil claims against traffickers and slave holders.
Erin Wolski
– “Aboriginal Women: Root Causes of Their Vulnerability”
– “Aboriginal Women: Root Causes of Their Vulnerability”
- Colonization is alive and well today.
- Racism and discrimination are perpetuated by Canada’s legislative framework on Aboriginal peoples.
- Aboriginal women’s roles as family and community anchors have been and continue to be systematically attacked.
- Aboriginal women are differentially impacted by legislation and policy.
- Aboriginal women’s demographics paint an alarming picture of their realities.
- SOCIAL EXCLUSION and IDENTITY are health determinants particularly relevant to Aboriginal peoples.
- The notion of vulnerability must be considered within the context of abject poverty
