What Is The Connection Between Human Trafficking And Climate Change?
We are living through an unprecedented period of extreme weather events.
This presents many pressing challenges across society, including an increased risk of violence, exploitation, and human trafficking brought about by extreme climate events, such as fires, floods, extreme heat, and drought.
Let’s explore how climate crises affect exploitation and trafficking.
There are many ways that a changing climate contributes to exploitation.
Existing vulnerabilities are amplified for people already overlooked and discriminated against by our systems and infrastructure, increasing the likelihood that they face preventable harm.
In this resource, Jess of Red Response, Winnipeg—an experiential, Indigenous-led harm-reduction organization that prioritizes survivor-centred responses—discusses this issue in the context of the 2025 Manitoba wildfires.
She shares how Red Response worked to address and prevent violence and exploitation during the emergency and disaster response.
Systemic Vulnerability and Failure to Meet Needs
Evacuation systems are not designed to support individuals who are already struggling with things like lack of housing, substance use, or generational trauma.
Jess 01:59
When support is limited to people who meet specific requirements, many people are excluded from services, turned away from safety, and placed at risk of further harm and exploitation.
Jess 00:29
When emergency services reach their limits, or fail to plan ahead for complex, layered situations, risk can actually be increased by the emergency response itself.
“Mainstream systems were not equipped to provide low-barrier, culturally safe harm reduction in an evacuation context, even though the risk indicators were obvious.”
- Jess
‘Gateway to Exploitation’
The Need for Coordinated Prevention Work
Red Response describes the wildfire and the inadequate evacuation response as a ‘gateway to exploitation’. Because different aspects of the emergency response occurred “in silos”, this created critical gaps in service and failed to meet people’s needs across issues.
Jess 01:48
Predators understand that emergencies and displacement increase vulnerability. They step in to offer “help” to people where the systems have failed to meet their needs.
“We also encountered recruitment patterns that were consistent with trafficking dynamics, particularly for Indigenous women who did not have a clear plan to return [home] once displaced… So, displacement actually disrupted routines, documentation, support networks, that made it real easy for individuals to become pressured into staying in unfamiliar cities under the guise of temporary help.”
- Jess
Jess 02:04
To effectively support people, “disaster response cannot be neutral”—meaning services should coordinate and engage in prevention planning that does not leave behind those with complex needs.
“Prevention work is rarely recognized in disaster response planning, no one talks about it, but it’s essential to prevent long-term harm”
- Jess
Red Responses’ Role
Red Response stepped in—unfunded—to fill the gaps left by larger services and provide support to people excluded by mainstream responses.
They did not wait until vulnerability turned into tragedy before taking action.
Jess 00:35
With their lived experience and front-line expertise, they took a person-centred, trauma-informed approach to help people and mitigate risk; they did not require sobriety, identification, or strict adherence to rules in order to receive support.
Red Response demonstrates the crucial role of grassroots, community-led organizations in disaster response and anti-trafficking work.
Their deep community relationships and trusted presence enable them to identify unmet needs and support people who are often overlooked by larger systems.
The Way Forward
Community-Led Responses for a Changing Climate
As climate change worsens, there will be more extreme weather and climate-related emergencies that create the conditions for violence, exploitation, and human trafficking.
Until more inclusive, culturally-informed, and community-driven approaches are integrated into disaster response, these situations will “reflect the long-standing pattern where crisis conditions amplify colonial vulnerabilities", creating and increasing harm.
Further Reading
If you are interested in learning more about exploitation and trafficking in the context of climate change, see this special issue of the Anti-Trafficking Review.