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    8  has limited knowledge of English or French
    9  constantly accompanied by someone who speaks for them or monitors them
    10  shows signs of trauma, including bruising, withdrawn behaviour, depression, or fear
    Exporting the casualties of war
    Among the most accessible sources for sex traffickers are victims already under the control of traffickers in other countries or recent survivors of similar trauma. Both groups are easily directed to Canada. Various victims of international sex trafficking have been brought to Canada after being exploited for years as modern-day slaves in countries around the world. Thérèse, whom we met in Chapter 1 , affords a dramatic example, having been brought to Canada from the DRC after over a decade of exploitation as a sex slave in her home country.
    Armed conflicts such as the ongoing war in the DRC significantly and disproportionately harm women and children. Victims of sexual violence and sex trafficking during the conflict, they are extremely vulnerable to serious human rights violations in post-conflict environments. In addition to the DRC, Chechnya, Colombia, El Salvador, and Sierra Leone represent global hot spots that tend to create an excess “inventory” of sex trafficking victims who are brought to other countries, including Canada, for further exploitation.
    Like Manuela, whom we met earlier in this chapter, Luisa grew up in the shadow of one of the bloodiest conflicts in our hemisphere, this time in Colombia. The world’s undisputed cocaine superpower, Colombia cultivated enough hectares of coca bushes in 2008 to manufacture 430 metric tons of cocaine, over half the global supply. Drug trafficking fuels the conflict between left-wing guerrilla groupsand right-wing paramilitaries, having contributed for decades to bouts of civil war and instability.
    Luisa, a mother of two, lived in Colombia’s countryside. When her common-law husband was killed in the high-stakes game of narco-trafficking, Enrico, his associate, entered the picture. Enrico may have announced that Luisa’s husband owed him money, which he decided to “collect on” by selling Luisa for sex, or she may have represented an easy target because she was a widow. In any case, Enrico supplied Luisa with drugs, which generated dependency through addiction, while he profited by selling her for sex.
    Luisa’s father discovered what was happening and courageously stepped in, caring for Luisa’s children and taking her away from Enrico. Luisa and her father agreed it would be best for the children to stay with their grandfather and for Luisa to leave the country for a few months to get her life back on track. They chose Canada for her fresh start.
    After her student visa application to Canada was approved, Luisa travelled to Toronto to learn English. As a recent survivor of human trafficking, alone in Canada’s largest metropolitan city, she was very vulnerable.
    They say that sharks can detect an injured animal from up to one kilometre away in open water. Traffickers operating in Canada have developed similar sensory skills for detecting their quarry. When Carlos met Luisa at their English-language class in Toronto, he smelled the figurative blood in the water.
    Carlos must have recognized from aspects of her demeanour that he would be able to exploit Luisa. With stealth and patience, he built trust by showing concern for her children back in Colombia.
    With time, Luisa and Carlos became intimate, and after six months Carlos began applying all of his skills to turn her back into a commodity that could be sold. He began by reintroducing hard drugs, building Luisa’s dependency on them once again. Next, he made Luisa an offer that she couldn’t refuse. “I’ll help bring your children here,” he promised, “but you need to work for me.”
    Carlos took Luisa to a brothel in a pleasant middle-classneighbourhood in North Toronto, a