A serious talk about sexual exploitation took place at Estevan Alliance Church.聽
At the Defend Dignity information forum, speakers discussed the problem of sexual exploitation, along with many of its root causes and the cultural stigmas associated with it. Speakers at the event included teachers, counselors, law enforcement, religious organizations and a former sex worker, and members of Defend Dignity, an organization whose mission is to end sexual exploitation in Canada.
Detective Jay Pierson with the Estevan Police Service (EPS) spoke about new strategies the EPS is using to combat sexual exploitation locally. Pierson said the EPS is working to educate and provide support for people who are being victimized, and they have been specifically trained to educate others on such matters.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been doing training with Envision and Victim Services and had trainers come from the Winnipeg Police Service,鈥� said Pierson. 鈥�(The training) facilitates us and helps inform us on what our goals are and what we can do.鈥�
One method the EPS has been using is an operation whereby police meet with women involved in the sex trade at hotels, where they check up on them, ensure that they are not being physically abused, that safe sex is being practiced and that there is an open channel of communication if exploitation occurs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not going to happen overnight. We have to gain the trust of these individuals who are being exploited. This is a whole different path of policing than what we鈥檙e used to,鈥� said Pierson. 鈥淭he goal is to reach out to individuals and let them know the police are here to help them, not to continually arrest them.鈥�
Another goal of the EPS is the formation of a new bylaw that differentiates between massage therapy and body rub parlours, and enforces the need for licensure and identification, along with a number of restrictions on customer and worker conduct to prevent sexual exploitation.
Pierson said there has been a recent drop, mostly on the Internet, in the number of escort services advertised for the Estevan area. He said the EPS is also looking to educate everyone, including students at Estevan Comprehensive School.聽
The EPS will also be travelling to other areas, to work with police forces, so they can get involved in similar operations to gather knowledge on how to combat sexual exploitation.
Beatrice Littlechief, a woman who dealt directly with sexual exploitation in her life, spoke to guests about her turbulent and troubled upbringing, enduring abuse in a foster family. The abuse she faced extended to her teen years and early adulthood on the streets of Regina, where she dealt with addiction and struggling to fend for herself in the sex trade.
Littlechief said she was the subject of assault and abuse within the sex trade from the moment she was pressured into drug use and prostitution as a teenager. She struggled with a dependency on alcohol and drugs to cope with the pain and trauma which she endured, and the constant feeling of being used and objectified, and of not fitting in or being valued as a part of society.聽
鈥淚 became an expert in manipulating people to protect myself or get my way. I learned to do that by not showing any emotions but anger,鈥� said Littlechief, describing how difficult life was in a prostitution ring. 鈥淚 learned that in order to survive out there I had to be tough and outsmart johns, pimps and police.鈥�
In and out of several cities, an abusive relationship and at one point, contemplating suicide, Littlechief eventually was swayed to turn her life around. She wanted to get her children back, who had been taken from her by social services.聽
Littlechief found a sense of purpose in the church and the love of her daughters that helped her turn her life around. She went on to get a university education, married and started a family. She returned to the streets, this time to help people who were still stuck in the cycle of exploitation.聽
鈥淒eep in my heart, I wanted to help women who were in the same place I once was,鈥� said Littlechief. 鈥淚 tell my story because there are people who need to be rescued, who want to be rescued, but don鈥檛 know how.鈥�
