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Friday, April 26, 2019 3Brooklin Town Crier Durham's Ugly Problem: Human Trafficking By Richard Bercuson Canada's longest and most important highway, the oft maligned 401, is also the repository of what has become a dirty secret: the emergence of human trafficking. In Durham region alone, between Bowmanville and Pickering there are over a dozen hotels and it is usually there that this underbelly of society thrives. Such was the opening message at Brooklin's April 13 Town Hall, hosted by Councillors Rhonda Mulcahy and Steve Lee. This first-ever event, held at the Brooklin Legion, had about 30 attendees and featured talks from Durham Police Detective Sgt. Brad Chapman, Kate Moore from Safe Hope Home, and Durham District School Board Trustee Nikki Lundquist. Councillor Elizabeth Roy was also present, offering a personal tale of someone in her family's descent into the lifestyle. Chapman, who grew up in Pickering and has been a police officer for 19 years, informed the audience of how and where the problems begin and grow. "A couple of those hotels accept cash," he said, "and while they do cooperate with us, it hasn't stopped the problem." Luring with gifts Traffickers, aka pimps, lure young girls, with money, gifts, and, most importantly, their attention. "A 15 year old girl with a $300 purse, two phones and expensive nails is a dead giveaway," he said. "When I see that, I immediately suspect something." He described two types of pimps: the Romeo pimp and the Gorilla pimp. The Romeo pimp showers girls with the attention they crave then uses that to lure them into the sex business. The pimps take all the money. He knows of one who made over a quarter million dollars in a year selling 15 year olds for sex in local hotels. In other instance, one of the more sordid stories he told, a 12 year old was being pimped by her parents. Now 30, the woman has been sober for just over a month, the longest stretch since age 12. The Gorilla pimp, however, uses violence to achieve his goals. Addressing cravings "There are huge barriers to break down," he said, "because the girls are getting what they crave." They're "recruited" at various venues: fast food restaurants, libraries, or any place that young teens might go to. Of course, social media play a major role and are the homes of many victims and pimps. "Now it's just so easy with the internet," he added. The profile of such victims, who generally cross all socio-economic levels, includes having expensive gifts, dating older guys, and school grades dropping in addition to fancy nails and hair. Often victims have few friends, are naive, and thus susceptible to advances. However, with the DRPS now having a dedicated unit to deal with the issue, more arrests are being made. As well, grade 9 female students in all schools are given an education in sex trafficking. Education is power "Education and information are power," Chapman said. "The harder the pimps have to work and the more difficult we make it for these people, the better it is." Councillor Roy, whose 19 year old niece in Detroit, has become just such a victim, chimed in, "You just don't know. You have to be in tune with your kids. They need to know it's okay to share." Kate Moore works with Safe Hope Home, an Ajax-based organization which provides assistance, guidance and, in a few cases, housing, to trafficking victims ages 16-29. The organization's operational budget is government funded but requires extensive fundraising to directly support the girls it works with. Moore says it's biggest cost is for trauma therapy. "We try to empower the girls to rebuild their lives," Moore says. "We have a 3600 approach in that we try to provide them with everything they need." The idea behind this, she emphasizes, is that if they don't meet the girls' needs and the trafficker does, it becomes difficult to help them and they can return to the life. "We follow them in the community and provide outreach," she adds. Rules and skills And there are rules. No drugs or alcohol is at the top of the list since rehab must come first. For the first 30 days living there, girls are not allowed cellphones for the obvious reason it affords them the opportunity to reconnect with pimps. Then eventually the phones are forbidden only at night. As well, Safe Hope Home offers life skills instruction and exposes the girls to activities they hadn't before experienced due to their lives being controlled by the pimps. The Town Hall's final speaker was DDSB trustee Nikki Lundquist who talked about one problem being how society commodifies girls' bodies. "What are we allowing our girls to do?" she offered. "We need to talk to the girls, but we also need to talk to the boys and have frank conversations." In the end, those in attendance left with a much clearer understanding both of the scope of human trafficking in Durham as well as what is being done by the police to stop it and organizations to help victims and educate the public. For more information about this topic, visit StopHT.com. To learn more about or donate to Safe Hope Home, visit safehopehome.com. Councillor Steve Lee hosts the Town Hall. (Seated left to right) Brad Chapman, Councillor Rhonda Mulcahy, Kate Moore, Nikki Lundquist, Councillor Elizabeth Roy New Name-Same Goal: Brooklin Lacrosse Club By Sam Laskaris Brooklin's Major Series Lacrosse squad has a new name. The franchise's Board of Directors has voted to drop the moniker Redmen and simply be called the Brooklin Lacrosse Club. The change is effective immediately. The name change has occurred weeks before the start of the 2019 campaign. GM Brad MacArthur added it will logistically take a bit of time for all changes to take place, on and off the floor, to reflect the squad's new name. "This is an unprecedented name change for us," he said. "And to have it occur so close to the start of a new season makes it more challenging. We're asking for patience from everybody as we make all necessary changes to reflect our new name of Brooklin Lacrosse Club. "While we now have a new name, the goal remains the same," said Dean Link, the president of the Brooklin team. "We want to not only win the Major Series Lacrosse championship this year but we are also setting our sights on winning the national Mann Cup title." Brooklin will play its regular season home games on Wednesday nights during June and July. The six-team MSL will again include the Brampton Excelsiors, Oakville Rock, Six Nations Chiefs and two-time defending Mann Cup champion Peterborough Lakers. The team begins its regular season on June 2 in Cobourg versus the Kodiaks. The home opener will be on June 5 at 8 p.m. at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre, also against Cobourg.