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HALIFAX, N.S. —

Nova Scotia is putting $1.4 million annually over the next five years into combatting the worst human trafficking rate in the country.

This province has 2.1 trafficking incidents for every 100,000 people. According to a 2009-2016 Statistics Canada analysis, 95 per cent of people trafficked in this country are women and 72 per cent are below the age of 25.

“This is a gender issue,” Community Services Minister Kelly Regan said Thursday. “These are crimes that disproportionately affect women and girls.”

Of the 68 human trafficking violation reported in Nova Scotia between 2009 and 2016, 58 of them were in Halifax, Regan said.

“It will take the combined efforts of government, non-profit and community organizations to create meaningful change,” she said.

“The trauma and fear that is felt with their survivors and loved ones is something that none of us can possibly imagine unless we ourselves are victims of it,” said Justice Minister Mark Furey.

Dedicating four officers - two from the RCMP and two from Halifax Regional Police - to combat human trafficking has not been enough, Furey said. “What we’ve come to realize is its much more complex than just that.”

He announced $150,000 to hire an additional Crown prosecutor dedicated to human trafficking cases, and $40,000 for specialized training to all Crown attorneys.

The Department of Justice is also spending $280,000 to hire three family and victim support navigators that will provide one-on-one needs-based support.

“They will be the glue that brings everyone together – that builds the capacity from one end of the province to the other,” Furey said, adding the navigators will be working closely with survivors, families, and law enforcement.

The province will also reassign six police officers, dedicating them to sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking cases.

Furey’s department will be adding an administrator and analyst to the human trafficking unit. “Those uniformed officers have been doing that analysis and administrative work and through discussions I’ve had with them individually, they’ve identified this particular area as support necessary in order for them to truly focus on the task at hand.”

The province has funded the YWCA for two years to provide support for survivors of human trafficking. Of the $1.4 million the province plans to spend, $375,000 will be dedicated to the expanding the YWCA’s provincial reach in that regard.

“Let’s be clear, this is about girls,” said Miia Suokonautio, executive director of YWCA Halifax. “When was the last time we made a multimillion investment publically in girls?”

Suokonautio, who brought her seven-year-old daughter to the announcement at Province House, was crying when she said, “They’re our girls. They’re my daughter, they’re your daughter, and they’re our communities’ daughters.”

The Association of Black Social Workers will get $100,000 to focus on human trafficking in African Nova Scotia communities. Another $150,000 will be used to re-open the Jane Paul Indigenous Women’s Resources Centre in Sydney and $300,000 will go to the Elizabeth Fry Society of Mainland Nova Scotia.