Do the lives of children being human trafficked matter? I’m asking this question because I recently covered the “March Against Trafficking” protest and to my astonishment at least 5 separate people publicly condemned the the protest.

This past Sunday, around 50 protesters gathered at 1790 Beach Ave in Vancouver, B.C. where they marched through the area before listening to speakers. It was all organized by an activist named Tara Reeve, who says the group will be meeting monthly to raise awareness about the need to “save our children” by ending human trafficking and stopping pedophilia.

Many passersby were supportive of the cause; a couple even joined in, marching along with the group as they chanted their messages. However, others couldn’t resist trying cancel the protest, using ANTIFA-like intimidation tactics. 

The international labour organization estimates that “40.3 million people are in modern slavery” which includes human trafficking and that “1 in 4 victims of modern slavery are children.”

Recently, my colleague, Sheila Gunn Reid has been covering an organization called People Versus Predators that tries to revoke the bails of alleged predators and alerts communities when convicted pedophiles are being released.

Our children are too young to advocate for themselves about these things, so I am happy to see Canadians coming together to shed light on a very dark issue that needs more attention.