AI helps researchers identify victims of human trafficking

Alexandra Stevenson never imagined what she thought was a loving relationship would turn abusive — or that she would ultimately become a victim of human trafficking.

Stevenson, who was living in Oakville, Ont. at the time, recalls how her boyfriend suddenly used threats and violence to control her, at one point saying she had to sell her body to cover the cost of her drug habit.

"All of a sudden, overnight, it switched. He did become very violent with me ... there was no option for me to leave. And he made it very clear that, should I choose to leave, my life would be at stake," she told CBC News.

Stevenson, 35, is among thousands of British Columbians who have been coerced into sexual exploitation, with online apps and messaging services complicating the issue by providing more platforms on which predators can seek their targets.

Researchers now hope technology can help them fight back — by using artificial intelligence to identify those most at risk of being targeted.

Now based in Kamloops, B.C., Stevenson says it took her years to realize she was being trafficked, and would like to see a greater emphasis on educating young people about the issue.

Stevenson was around 13 years old when she was first sexually abused by her best friend's uncle, she says. The abuse continued for years.

By the time she was 20, she was using heavy drugs to help mask the trauma of the abuse. That's when she met her boyfriend, who dealt drugs full-time, she says.

When she tried to break up with him after he started threatening her with violence, he showed her a news article about a woman who had been hurt "graphically" and said the last girl who broke up him experienced something similar.

"That's when his control over me started," Stevenson said.

She says she felt responsible to help cover the cost of her drug habit, and her boyfriend used that to control her.

"He said, 'You know, we really have to supplement our income … I'm not making money. You're doing too many of the drugs I'm supposed to sell. This is your fault. I need your help,'" she recalled.

Then he became physically abusive, she says.

She describes an incident at a strip club where he manhandled her onto the stage and made a deal with the club's owner, saying she couldn't leave until she "paid a deposit with [her] body."