Benjamin Perrin

First becoming involved in anti-human trafficking work in Cambodia led Benjamin Perrin to take the fight back to his home country of Canada.

He founded The Future Group in 2000, which was originally focused on sex trafficking and child trafficking in Southeast Asia. It has since expanded, and now much of its work is also done in North America, where Perrin is a Professor at the University of British Columbia. From 2004 to 2006, Perrin compiled statistics on trafficking victim demographics, and published a report in 2006 detailing the way in which Canada treats its victims. This report pushed the Canadian government to grant residence permits to the victims, and to provide medical assistance, which it did. He has continued investigating various human trafficking rings in Canada, and is a frequent commentator on television about human trafficking issues. He consulted on the creation of the 2008 Rio de Janeiro Pact against the sexual exploitation of children, and has extensively researched human trafficking within Canadian borders. In 2009, he was honored as a "TIP Report Hero Acting to End Modern Slavery" in recognition of his efforts to combat human trafficking.. He has continued to be vocal in Canada, becoming one of the leading anti-human trafficking activists. He published a book in 2010, Invisible Chains, which focused on one specific gang and their trafficking practices. He published a textbook on human trafficking as well, and continues to teach at the University of British Columbia, and is still an Advisor to the Board at The Future Group.

In the 2014 TIP Report, Canada was listed as a Tier 1 country.  It is a source, transit and destination country for sex trafficking, but only a destination country for forced labor. Strip clubs, and massage parlors, are hotbeds for sex trafficking victims. Low-income girls, and aboriginal girls, are often at-risk for trafficking.