Nova Scotia is putting $1.4 million more a year over the next five years into combating the worst human trafficking rate in the country.
In this province, 2.1 in 100,000 people are trafficked into the sex trade.
"Human trafficking and sexual exploitation have a devastating impact on all our communities," Community Services Minister Kelly Regan said in a news release. "They are crimes that disproportionately affect women and girls. It will take the combined efforts of government, non-profit and community organizations to create meaningful change."
The province is pledging to “hire family and victim support navigators for Halifax Regional Municipality, Cape Breton Regional Municipality and the South Shore,” the news release said.
“These navigator roles will provide additional support to African Nova Scotian and Indigenous victims and survivors.”
The province is also promising to “hire a new Crown prosecutor dedicated to prosecuting human trafficking cases and for specialized training for Crown prosecutors on human trafficking issues.”
In addition, it will add six police investigators who specialize in “gender-based violence, specifically domestic violence, sexual violence and human trafficking investigators,” said the release.
The province said it will also “provide funding to re-open the Jane Paul Indigenous Women's Resource Centre” in Sydney.
