An exhaustive report by a social network has found that Newfoundland and Labrador lacks the supports necessary to effectively work towards the prevention of youth sexual exploitation.

Many of the recommendations focus on providing all people in our communities with the information, skills, tools and resources they need to effectively prevent and respond to youth sexual exploitation.

Angela Crockwell, executive director of Thrive, is calling on the provincial government to create a stand-alone department to begin the process of fixing the system. The report also found that poverty is a root cause of sexual exploitation.

One of the engagement opportunities was for people with lived experiences who were asked if there were people, places or things which helped them during their time of exploitation. Crockwell says the overwhelming response was no.

Sexual exploitation can take many forms. As with other jurisdictions, human trafficking is here. The most common challenge to seeking out support that people identified was fear of further harm.