The night is clear, and the harvest moon follows Debbie, a six-foot, blonde year-old, as she moves along Charles Street in north Winnipeg.
She spies three sitting on a curb. I remember little of my mother. Continue readingβ¦. At first, the youth, in torn jeans and sipping slushies, ignore her. But when she turns to leave, Debbie finds the kids right behind her. She also helps kids tackle their drug addictions and leave their traffickers. I was one of them once. I know the average age a person first turns a trick is Stories like this have driven Manitoba to implement some of the most aggressive and progressive laws and programs in the country to combat the sexual trafficking of children.
Among other things, the province has increased the number of beds for short- and long-term housing, and educational and vocational programs. Manitoba also has made it easier for police to investigate and arrest pimps or traffickers, increased the numbers of social workers and police, and reformed parts of the foster-care program, where much of the abuse stems.
They are abused children in need of care. Ndinawe, where Debbie works, provides housing for trafficked children, a school, and outreach services, as well as college-training courses that issue diplomas in the fields of child and youth care.
To date, Ndinawe has awarded such diplomas to 58 formerly trafficked men and women. Ten Ndinawe graduates have gone on to receive college and university degrees. And almost all of the graduates, including four men, now work in various front-line child welfare jobs across the province. The province further beefed up its commitment to addressing the problem following the suicide of year-old Tracia Owen.
