Students forced into sex work need protection from deportation in Brampton, advocates and council says

Zara was in her second year of studies when she met a man who forced her into sex work and got her pregnant, international student advocates say.

The young student from India met a man at a gathering and started a relationship with him. But within eight months the man sexually exploited Zara and “forced pregnancy on her” to take control of her life, said Dani Mills with nCourage, the region’s dedicated anti-human trafficking hub.

Her story is just one example of international students and temporary workers victimized by human traffickers in Brampton.

And while Zara was able to escape her abuser with the help of nCourage, her story highlights the struggle against human traffickers that Peel Regional Police and community support groups say has been growing for years across Ontario.

“They don’t know their rights, they’re paralyzed by fear and exploiters that are threatening them with deportation if they don’t comply with their demands,” Mills told Brampton City Council at a meeting on Wednesday.

“They’re, lured, groomed, and then threatened to report them to immigration for engaging in sex work or to tell their families.”

Traffickers can be blatant in recruiting, with Posters and ads promoting sex work seen around Brampton in front of a local Gurdwara and post-secondary schools, and students who do find themselves trapped in sex work can be deported if they report the matter to the police.

Police and advocates say most cases of human trafficking are unreported and the full scale of international students involved in human trafficking is a moving target. There have only been two cases of international students being exploited reported to Peel police, but that’s due to the shame, stigma and legal repercussions they face, police say.

Brampton City Council has picked up the torch against human trafficking in the city and across Ontario, passing a motion at committee on Wednesday calling on better protections and changes from the feds and the province.

Those proposed changes include removing sex work as a condition for deportation related to student visas, increase working hours to 40 hours per week so students can access legal work, and launch a three-year pilot to develop a wrap-around anti-human trafficking support hub with culturally-diverse programs and mental health supports.

The motion passed with the unanimous support of council on Wednesday, and will be sent to federal Ministers of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship and Housing, and provincial ministers of Colleges and Universities, and Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development among others.

“Whoever is exploiting you, come forward and we can help you,” Mayor Patrick Brown said, urging anyone who may be a victim to contact police or groups like nCourage.

International students can be pushed into human trafficking by landlords holding a victim’s passport, and escaping the situation can be difficult due to the shame, stigma and legal repercussions they face, police and advocates say.

The issue is province-wide but “all roads lead to Brampton” due to the city’s proximity to 400 series highways and Pearson International Airport as well as a large number of students, said Det. Sgt. Bob Hackenbrook with the Peel Regional Police Vice Unit.

The problem is so prominent that Indus Community Services says it has also been providing help to international students fleeing human trafficking, going against federal regulations.

The city has been raising the issue of exploited students for months after INsauga.com reported on an online ad offering free rent in exchange for a “friends-with-benefits relationship” in Brampton. The city has called on its academic institutions to build and provide housing for its students, as well as provide training to international students on sexual exploitation and consent.

Council has also been trying to deal with safety concerns of overcrowding in international student rentals with a proposed tenant cap and its new residential rental licensing pilot.

One Brampton incident where dozens of international students were allegedly found crammed into a single home saw complaints to the city from both landlords and tenants. Some landlords have also been protesting the city’s controversial rental registration program while tenants are calling for more protections.

Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, Coun. Rowena Santos and Gurpreet Malhotra, CEO of Indus Community Services, will share more details of the city’s fight against human trafficking at a press conference on Wednesday. The motion will see the city’s requests sent to both the province and the federal government.

Peel Regional Police say there have been 168 individuals charged with human trafficking in the region since 2020.