Daphne Bramham is my favorite journalist (Vancouver Sun columnist). Her recent articles are about human trafficking and she tackles the topic so eloquently (Vancouver Sun, June 19, 2010 and others).
The disturbing story about the conviction of a local art dealer and father, Kenneth Klassen who plead guilty to 15 counts involving sex acts with girls under the age of 14 in Cambodia and Columbia, gives a sad example of just how easy it is for harm to occur to girls in the hands of Canadians.
Girls are being sold, tortured and dying here in Canada and all over the world. Daphne rightly suggests formulating a national strategy, intensifying investigations and prosecutions and being more proactive. I would add to this: Stop pretending that it is not happening and challenge all the millions of men that purchase pornography. As wives of husbands, sisters of brothers and mothers of boys, surely we can ask our family members to stop. If we did, that would be a lot of men! Maybe it could slow down this multi-billion dollar industry, save a few lives and help foster respect for women everywhere.