Child sex trafficking and exploitation awareness educator Cathy Peters in North Vancouver has written a book on the problem of sexual exploitation of children in Canada.
“It’s a book I wrote, really for parents and for educators because I want to empower people,” according to Peters, who says the book is a compilation of what she’s learned from survivors, law enforcement officers, and front-line service providers over the past ten years.
Peters says she doesn’t want to frighten people about a problem she says is flourishing in the country, but instead wants to give them the knowledge needed to help end it.
For parents, she says knowledge is power that can be used to protect their children and push for better enforcement.
She says the main thing is to “learn, share, and alert.”
Peters says it’s easy to learn about child sex trafficking and exploitation because there are a growing number of resources available in Canada.
She then urges people to share that knowledge with family and friends, and alert people who can make a difference: law enforcement, and politicians.
Peters says politicians “make the laws in this country and they typically tell me we don’t have a problem with this,” so there’s a need for people to talk to their local politicians.
She warns British Columbia is falling behind provinces like Ontario and Alberta in tackling the problem.
Some of the resource she recommends parents go to are Tiana Sherifi’s Exploitation Education Institute, Cybertips, which is known globally, as well as the federal government’s public safety website which contains a lot of information about sexual exploitation and human trafficking.
She also recommends Defend Young Minds and Protect Young Eyes in the United States.
“Those two organizations are on the cutting edge of identifying what is dangerous and how to protect your youth online, because really, it’s digital problem now, it’s all online, the majority of it is.”
Peters says the social media platforms presenting the highest risk are “Twitter (rebranded as X), Instagram, (and) Snapchat, those are real problem areas because youth are on those, the majority of youth are on those,” and can be easily switched over to more dangerous platforms such as Only Fans.
Peters warns that child sex trafficking is a problem in Canada and most people don’t realize the country is known as a child sex-tourism destination.
She says the good news is that it can be stopped because there are the laws are in place, along with the resources, and we need to use them to end the exploitation of children.
Peters says she began writing her book because people were telling her there wasn’t one like it in Canada and hopes it will become available in every school and library.
Child Sex Trafficking in Canada and How to Stop It by Cathy Peters is available in bookstores, Amazon and online.
Peters is a former inner city high school teacher turned advocate who has received a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for her anti-human trafficking work.
