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Vancouver man sentenced to 18 months for human trafficking

 Franco Orr was convicted in June on three counts under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

VANCOUVER — — A British Columbia man who lied to immigration officials in order to bring the family nanny to Canada from Hong Kong, luring her with empty promises so she would care for his three children, should spend 18 months in prison, a B.C. Supreme Court judge said Tuesday.
Franco Orr has been a productive member of society with no criminal record but he must spend time behind bars in order to deter others who would violate Canada's immigration laws, Justice Richard Goepel told the 50-year-old businessman before he was handcuffed and led out of the courtroom by a sheriff.

"Individuals cannot be allowed to disregard the immigration laws of this country with impunity," Goepel said.

While there have been dozens of convictions for human trafficking under the Criminal Code, this is the first such conviction under the Immigration Act.
Goepel said the Crown did not prove the nanny, Leticia Sarmiento, was subjected to humiliating or degrading treatment in the Orr residence, which would have been an aggravating factor.

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Inside the world of human sex trafficking

Victims often don't fit the stereotype: they could be from a middle-class suburban family, being sold online. They could be your daughter

By: Jennifer Quinn News reporter, Robert Cribb Foreign, Published on Sat Oct 05 2013, Toronto Star

She poses on a bed, wearing pink lingerie and staring into the camera. “I’m young, I’m willing and I’m waiting for you,” reads the pitch in the online ad. “I love to please.”

Any suggestion of glamour vanishes quickly inside the seamy Scarborough hotel.

The hallways are fetid; it’s unlikely the rooms will be any better.

Brianne answers the knock, expecting to see the anonymous man with whom she negotiated sex-for-money over email about an hour earlier.

Instead, two police officers step inside the room — floral polyester bedspread, stained carpet — where the tattered beige curtains are drawn and a filmy camisole is draped over the lampshade in a sad attempt at atmosphere.More

Toronto Counter Human Trafficking Network

Roundtable: Building Collaboration to Combat Human Trafficking in the City of Toronto


 

Date: 28 and 29 October 2013

Venue: Toronto Harbour Light Ministries, 160 Jarvis Str. (at Queen Str.)

Time: 9am to 5pm

Fee: $10 (for both days)

This is the first of a series of roundtables aiming to facilitate the dialogue between multi-sector stakeholders to address the issue of human trafficking in the City of Toronto.

Day one

Series of panel presentations by multi‐sector stakeholders who dedicate their work to counter human trafficking followed by a discussion.

Day two

Working group discussions to initiate a dialogue on policy development.

SPACES ARE LIMITED! Register by sending email at tchtn@fcjrefugeecentre.org with your name indicating if attending both days. If attending only one day please SPECIFY WHICH DAY (for catering purposes).

Payment method:

CREDIT CARD go to Eventbrite ($10+$1.59 on line fee): https://antitraffickingroundtableone.eventbrite.com

CASH or CHECK pay at the door

Lunch will be provided

 Subsidies are available for people who cannot pay the registration fee

 

 

For more information contact:

Varka Kalaydzhieva at 416-469-9754, ext.222 or varka@fcjrefugeecentre.org

 

 

The event is funded by the City of Toronto    

Job Posting

 

Peer Street Outreach Workers

JOB POSTING for 3 Peer Harm Reduction Workers (women – trans inclusive)*


All Saints Church-Community Centre is committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment, while enhancing the well-being of homeless and street-involved individuals.  The Sex Worker’s Drop-in Centre was created two years ago and provides programs to address the impact that discrimination, poverty, violence and drug use have on the lives of the women it serves. Based on a harm reduction perspective, the drop-in centre provides programming and support, counselling and advocacy to women involved in the sex industry. Programming includes: nursing care and health services; social work support; provision of warm meals; sexual health workshops; and personal rights training sessions.   PROS(Providing Resources, Offering Support) All Saints newest initiative, provides support, advocacy, counselling and programming to women and youth that have been exploited in the sex industry. We work to educate other service providers, community members and our greater society about issues of commercial sexual exploitation in Toronto, while contributing to policies that transform public perception and enhance people’s rights and safety.

Responsibilities:

* provide street based outreach to street-involved sex workers and at risk women & youth for one 5 hour shift per week as part of our Sex Worker’s Drop In (shifts are Fridays 6:30 – 11:30 am)

* as a Harm Reduction team member, the Peer Outreach worker helps to plan new program activities


A Street Outreach Shift includes:

* handing out harm reduction materials & information, such as condoms, needles, safer crack use kits

* providing support, education, and referrals to health & community services

* keeping track of supplies given out and the number of people met on a shift

* taking part in team talks about trends seen on a shift with staff, students & volunteers

* Peers are expected to attend biweekly supervision with program social worker



The positions are a 6 month contract which is dependent on program funding and pays $15.00 per hour for a maximum of 5hrs/week per person.

 

Please call or email Jolene at 416-368-7768 ext. 24 or jolene@allsaintstoronto.com by 5:00pm Friday September 20, 2013 to apply for the position and arrange an interview time.  

 

 

 

*3 positions available for women (trans inclusive) that have lived experience with sex work, sex trafficking, and/or drug use.

Lost in translation: A trial halts while lawyers search for an acceptable interpreter

By Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun September 13, 2013

 

 

Justice is hard enough to get when everyone speaks the same language. But when they don't, it's fraught with peril.

 

It's so fraught that at times, like Thursday in B.C. Supreme Court, a trial needs to be stopped until everyone involved is satisfied that what is being said is perfectly understood and perfectly interpreted.

For Mumtaz Ladha, it's particularly crucial. She is accused of human trafficking, employing a foreign national without authorization and misrepresenting facts to both the Canadian High Commission in Tanzania and to Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The problem is not that Ladha can't make herself understood. The 60-year-old is a Canadian citizen, who speaks fluent English and Swahili.
It's her alleged victim - a 26-year-old Tanzanian woman with a Grade 8 education - who is having a hard time because she speaks Swahili and only limited English.

Since she began testifying Wednesday, the court-accredited interpreter has struggled to translate both from English into her particular Tanzanian dialect of Swahili and then from Swahili back into English. More:

Roundtable: Building Collaboration to Combat Human Trafficking

Toronto Counter Human Trafficking Network

Roundtable: Building Collaboration to Combat Human Trafficking in the City of Toronto


 

Date: 28 and 29 October 2013

Venue: Toronto Harbour Light Ministries, 160 Jarvis Str. (at Queen Str.)

Time: 9am to 5pm

Fee: $10 (for both days)

This is the first of a series of roundtables aiming to facilitate the dialogue between multi-sector stakeholders to address the issue of human trafficking in the City of Toronto.

Day one

Series of panel presentations by multi‐sector stakeholders who dedicate their work to counter human trafficking followed by a discussion.

Day two

Working group discussions to initiate a dialogue on policy development.

SPACES ARE LIMITED! Register by sending email at tchtn@fcjrefugeecentre.org with your name indicating if attending both days. If attending only one day please SPECIFY WHICH DAY (for catering purposes).

Payment method:

CREDIT CARD go to Eventbrite ($10+$1.59 on line fee): https://antitraffickingroundtableone.eventbrite.com

CASH or CHECK pay at the door

Lunch will be provided

 Subsidies are available for people who cannot pay the registration fee

 

 

For more information contact:

Varka Kalaydzhieva at 416-469-9754, ext.222 or varka@fcjrefugeecentre.org

 

 

The event is funded by the City of Toronto