Human Trafficking in Winnipeg?

What is human trafficking?

Human trafficking involves recruiting, moving, or holding victims to exploit them for profit, usually for sexual reasons or forced labour. Traffickers can control and pressure victims by force or through threats, including mental and emotional abuse and manipulation.

A few weeks ago, I came across a few posts on Facebook about the rumors of human trafficking at The Marlborough Hotel in Winnipeg, Manitoba and decided to do some more research into it and write about it.

On December 25th, 2023 a video started circulating on social media of a woman leaving the hotel with her hands bound and several men trying to stop her from escaping.

Allegedly, the woman had attempted to stab a staff member before a hotel employee put zip ties on her until police arrived. This video sparked a public outrage and people began protesting. To be honest with you guys? I don't buy it. I really don't. I honestly think there's a bigger picture at play here and I don't like it one bit.

Outraged citizens, confronted the hotel employees, demanded the police to investigate, and some even broke into the hotel's basement. Rumor has it, that there is a human trafficking ring located within the basement of the hotel. And there is video footage out there circulating with old shoes, belonging to both women and childrens, a bar, and secret doors leading to who knows where that were locked. As of now, the hotel is closed.

The woman who was restrained speaks out and apparently, the 19-year old was passed out in the hotel lounge before being restrained.

I've worked in the hotel industry. That is not the call to make in a situation such as this. If she was truly passed out drunk, you contact the police first. Don't take the matter into your own hands. That's how I was trained. I can't even begin to wonder what their true intentions with her actually were. It makes me physically ill to think about what could have happened to her let alone how the "hotel staff" actually treated her. That was so beyond unprofessional of the staff and I can't see her threatening anyone with a knife. Even if that was the case, all this incident did was spark awareness into the depths of the darkness at the Marlborough Hotel. I know I personally wouldn't stay there, even if I was desperate, just solely because of the way the staff treated her by restraining her themselves.

Human trafficking doesn’t have to involve crossing borders. And it’s not just a foreign problem, it’s happening right now in communities all across Canada.

In fact, there were 3541 police-reported incidents of human trafficking in Canada between 2011 and 2021. Those were just the crimes that were reported. I didn't realize how close to home this actually was until this incident started circulating my Facebook page.

The thing is, human trafficking is morally wrong. There are plenty of people that willingly trade their bodies for sex in the first place (Look on Craigslist if you don't believe me), to kidnap, manipulate, threaten and abuse someone is just abhorrently wrong.

As a Canadian citizen, I am outraged. As a woman with small children, one of them being a daughter, I am appalled. I have been blessed beyond belief to have never had experienced anything along the lines of human trafficking but to think that it could happen to me or even my daughter or sons for that matter, makes me hurt.

The world is such a scary place.

You never know what can happen out there.

Take care of the people around you.

Be safe out there you guys.

Sources

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/marlborough-hotel-protestwoman-restrained-1.7090382

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-safety-canada/cam

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/85-005-x/2022001/article/00001-eng.htm#:~:text=There%20were%203%2C541%20police-reported%20incidents%20of%20human%20trafficking,annual%20rate%20was%200.9%20incidents%20per%20100%2C000%20population

https://winnipeg.citynews.ca/2024/02/06/marlborough-hotel-zip-tie-video-woman/