Halton Police of Canada, are seeing an increase of human trafficking arrests. It’s hard to say whether or not it is becoming worse or they are just identifying it more often. Halton, with a populous a little over 545,000 has made nine arrests this year. While it may not seem like a lot, for them, its a real problem.
“Human trafficking is happening in our backyards,” said Dan Ciardullo, a detective with the HRPS drug and morality unit. He says they have taken action in increasing their resources to help identifying human trafficking which could be the reason why they are seeing it more; nevertheless its a scary discovery. “It’s more prevalent than we believed it was in the past,” said Ciardullo.
Human trafficking crisis advocate, Tara Setaram, from Halton’s Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention Services (SAVIS), explains how she sees many different types of trafficking mixing in with eachother. She says she see’s most of the victims falling under the control of what she calls “Romeo Pimps”. “They make someone feel important,” she also notes they sometimes will shower their victim with gifts, false promises and affection. “That luring and grooming stage can take a day, can take a month, can take a year.” Seteram states that is why “Romeo Pimps” are so dangerous, most cannot tell the difference from what they believe to be love and what is actually happening.