Edmonton – Statistics surrounding sexual exploitation in Alberta are startling. Over the past 27 years, there have been 31 verified murders of vulnerable women in the Edmonton area alone, with only five of those cases being solved. 

During Sexual Exploitation Awareness Week, the Alberta Liberal Caucus has joined forces with the Pros¬ti¬tu¬tion Aware¬ness and Ac¬tion Foun¬da¬tion of Ed¬mon¬ton (PAAFE). With the help of Liberal MLA Kevin Taft, PAAFE hopes to bring the various, sometimes unseen, realms of sexual exploitation and human trafficking to the forefront of Albertans’ awareness.

Today in Question Period, Kevin Taft will ask specific questions surrounding sexual exploitation businesses operating as so-called “massage parlors.”

“This issue is out of sight, therefore out of mind for many Albertans,” Taft says. “We need some kind of regulatory change to ensure human trafficking in Alberta, which sometimes involves helpless children, is stopped.”

Taft also wants the Stelmach administration to reduce the market that enables sexual exploitation. “If no one is willing to buy human beings for perverse reasons, there would be no market for human trafficking,” says Taft. “We need to inform the public about these massage parlors and sexual exploitation. We need to teach young men and women that these places cause serious harm to those working there, and the money garnered at these places is likely used for other criminal purposes.”

Some interesting stats about sexual exploitation in Alberta:

• The average age of a child involved in prostitution in Alberta is 15.4 years old
• The Protection of Sexually Exploited Children Act has helped more than 980 children in the past 11 years
• The Council of Europe reports human trafficking grosses more than $42.5-billion annually worldwide

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For more information contact:
albertaliberalcaucus
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