''Invisible Chains: Canada's Underground World of Human Trafficking'' is a 2010 book about

human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...

Benjamin Perrin Benjamin Perrin is a professor at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Human trafficking opponent Perrin is involved with human trafficking research and activism ...

. Perrin wrote the book after researching human trafficking for ten years. In ''Invisible Chains'', Perrin recounts a variety of stories of

human trafficking in Canada Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...

, including that of the prostitution of a child in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

whose sexual services were advertised in the adult services section of Craigslist. The book was timed to be published within three weeks of the release of

Joy Smith Joy Ann Smith (born February 20, 1947) is a Canadian politician. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba between 1999 and 2003, and was in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015. Education and business career Smith was born ...

's proposal for the

National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking The National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking is a four-year action plan that was established by the Government of Canada on June 6, 2012 to oppose human trafficking in Canada. In 2004, the government's Interdepartmental Working Group ...

. Perrin advocated adopting Smith's proposal, saying that ''Invisible Chains'' "shows that while traffickers have a plan, Canada doesn't," and that the victims are the ones who suffer from the lack of a national

action plan Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * Action (1921 film), ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * Ac ...

. Perrin promoted the book in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

in October 2010. Mark Milke of the ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'' said that Perrin's book is "not an enjoyable read. It's depressing... but it's a necessary read," going on to say that ''Invisible Chains'' "will do much good."

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Chester Brown Chester William David Brown (born 16 May 1960) is a Canadian cartoonist. Brown has gone through several stylistic and thematic periods. He gained notice in alternative comics circles in the 1980s for the surreal, scatological ''Ed the Happy Clo ...

condemned ''Invisible Chains'', saying that it purports "that johns are evil monsters." In response, Brown wrote ''

Paying for It ''Paying for It'', "a comic strip memoir about being a John (prostitution), john", is a 2011 graphic novel by Canada, Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown. A combination of memoir and polemic, the book explores Brown's decision to give up on roman ...

'', a

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

written "from the john's point of view, since of course, I don’t think of myself as an evil monster." Perrin's book was nominated for a

George Ryga George Ryga (27 July 1932 – 18 November 1987) was a Canadian playwright, actor and novelist. His writings explored the experiences of Indigenous peoples in Canada, among other themes. His most famous work is ''The Ecstasy of Rita Joe''. E ...

Award for Social Awareness in Literature, but lost to ''One Story, One Song'', an

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

collection by

Richard Wagamese Richard Wagamese (October 14, 1955 – March 10, 2017) was an Ojibwe Canadian author and journalist from the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations in Northwestern Ontario."Indian Horse is a dark ride". '' Calgary Herald'', February 28, 2012. He was be ...

References

{{Human trafficking in Canada Human trafficking in Canada Canadian non-fiction books Non-fiction books about organized crime Non-fiction books about Canadian prostitution 2010 non-fiction books English-language books Books about rape Prostitution in Canada Works about organized crime in Canada Forced prostitution Books about child prostitution