The Government of Ontario’s recent work to address human trafficking is laudable and noteworthy. There is a new anti-human trafficking strategy with funding attached, and the four pillars of the strategy (i.e., raising awareness, supporting survivors, holding offenders accountable, and preventing it from happening in the first place) seem pretty logical.
The strategy’s prevention pillar is focused mainly on children and youth who have had contact with the child welfare system, and some good work has been done here (though there is no doubt a long way to go, as the Ombudsman and others have pointed out). As one example, the Ready, Set, Go program has extended financial and other support to youth leaving care up to age twenty-three.
Human traffickers exploit the needs of vulnerable people. For people who have an intellectual disability, this can include economic, relationship, therapeutic, and rehabilitative needs. People with intellectual disabilities are highly likely to experience income and food insecurity, often lack strong social networks, and generally experience extended waits for support and therapy. This makes them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse from people who cynically offer things like money, food, pain relief, and companionship.
Unfortunately, despite advances in the province’s anti-human trafficking strategy, these vulnerabilities remain as profound as ever.
Income and personal control are two of the most important issues at the root of human trafficking and other forms of abuse and exploitation. On both of these issues, people who have intellectual disabilities in Ontario are at a serious disadvantage.
Let’s first look at income:
People who have an intellectual disability face pervasive social and economic barriers to employment. As a result, only about 40% are working, and therefore most must turn to government programs to try to make ends meet.
In Ontario, a single woman who has an intellectual disability may be able to access a few financial support options. At the low end is Ontario Works, with which she will have to live on less than $8,800 per year. If she is eligible for the Ontario Disability Support Program, her income will be about $17,000 per year. If she knows about and is able to access Developmental Services Ontario, she can apply for Passport program funding of between $5,500 and $45,000 per year, and will probably be able to access the minimum amount. If her life is chaotic and dangerous and she lacks a personal network of support, she may get into a rare provincially funded living arrangement, with an average cost somewhere between $30,000 and $126,000 per year (based on recent unreleased research done by KPMG on contract to the province).
In the most likely scenario of ODSP plus Passport (the latter of which requires people to pay for certain goods and services up front and then be reimbursed by the province, a significant barrier), a single woman can count on financial support of $22,396 per year – about $5,000 below the poverty line in major Ontario cities (with a modest improvement if we include $2,400 from the Canada Disability Benefit). This creates a profound situation of vulnerability.
Next, let’s talk about personal control:
Human traffickers and other abusers target people (and particularly women) with intellectual disabilities because the poverty, marginalization and other barriers they face decrease their power and limit their ability to report and escape exploitation. It can be argued that this is intensified in Ontario because of our parochial approach to recognizing and supporting legal capacity and decision-making among people who have an intellectual disability.
In Community Living Ontario’s Right to Decide series, we show the extent to which people labelled with intellectual disability continue to be inaccurately seen as unable to make decisions and control their own lives. This often starts from a young age and leads to overprotection and avoidance of risk within families, a lack of important knowledge building (including but not limited to sexual health education), and a reduced ability to avoid abusive relationships in adulthood.
While other provinces have expanded the ways in which people labelled with intellectual disability can make decisions with help from chosen supporters, Ontario has an antiquated, black-and-white approach to legal capacity and decision-making. In practice, the province draws a sharp line between people considered capable or incapable of making decisions. As a result, many are pushed into situations where decisions are made for them, which decreases their power and increases their vulnerability.
All this to say: while well-meaning, Ontario’s anti-human trafficking strategy does not address the most important precursors to trafficking and abuse, and it is thus unlikely to significantly reduce this scourge. As long as deep poverty is widespread and personal control is curtailed among labelled people, the problem will only grow.
