ICPC is proud to have participated in the event “Mieux prévenir l’exploitation sexuelle: Parole aux Jeunes!”, organized by the International Bureau for Children’s Rights (IBCR) on May 11 at the Centre PHI in Montreal.
The event gave a voice to young people and discussed the important issue of sexual exploitation of young people, particularly in the context of the current pandemic.
The event represented the culmination of two years of hard work by five groups of young teens from the Greater Montreal area who had participated in the “Parole aux jeunes!” project. Over 70 teenagers (aged 14 to 17) took a close look at the complex issue of sexual exploitation of young people, particularly in the context of the current pandemic. The teens shared their perspectives, exchanged ideas, and reacted to recent prevention campaigns in the province, in order to better understand the problem and make recommendations to combat this scourge.
Some recommendations suggested by the teens:
Partnership with a well-known Instagrammer or celebrity to raise awareness and make the subject less taboo
Training for parents
Explain to young people how to recognize toxic signs.
In conclusion, the ICPC is proud to have taken part in the event “Preventing sexual exploitation: Young People Speak Out” organized by the IBCR, and is committed to an ongoing exploration of mutual collaboration on similar themes, with a common concern for prevention.
From October 4 to 6, 2022, the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime organized the 7th International Conference on Observation, Analysis and Prevention of Insecurity, in collaboration with the French Ministry of Transport, the International Union of Railways, the International Association of Public Transport, the Union of Public Transports, Safe.brussels, the Institute of Higher Studies of the Ministry of the Interior, the government of Quebec and the government of Canada. The event took place at the headquarters of the International Union of Railways in Paris.
The main theme of the conference was Security in Mobility. Through a collaboration with French, Belgian, and Canadian partners, the event succeeded in presenting various approaches and raising awareness on multiple issues surrounding safety and insecurity in mobility. This conference revealed the importance of the risks and challenges faced by public transport, which is part of our daily lives.
The conference included several workshops addressing a wide range of topics related to safety and insecurity in mobility. These topics included the feeling of insecurity, public transit harassment, crisis management in the face of the terrorist threat, verbal abuse and aggression against staff, fare evasion, crisis management, and technological prevention tools, social prevention of violence and incivilities, crisis management: sharing experiences on current crisis situations, and situational prevention and the CPTED approach in mobility.
These proceedings are a complete synthesis of all the information shared during the activities, as well as the exchanges between the different speakers and the participants. They are now available for consultation.
The main points to remember are as follows:
The issue of harassment on public transport is a major problem, particularly detrimental to women.
Crime does not occur randomly; it is influenced by circumstances and factors that facilitate criminal opportunities and acts of delinquency.
There is a paradoxical cohabitation between individuals in great precariousness and users who pay for a service and naturally expect a certain level of quality.
You can access the proceedings by clicking on the corresponding links:
On October 5 and 6, 2022, the 7th International Conference on Observation, Analysis and Prevention of Insecurity, organized by the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, in collaboration with the French Ministry of Transport, the International Union of Railways, the International Association of Public Transport, the Union of Public Transports, Safe.brussels, the Institute of Higher Studies of the Ministry of the Interior, the government of Quebec and the government of Canada, took place in Paris. The conference was held at the headquarters of the International Union of Railways.
For this 7th edition, the theme of the conference was: Security in Mobility.
To mark the beginning of this 7th edition of the international conference, an opening cocktail was held at the residence of the Canadian Ambassador in Paris. Our partner, the Canadian Embassy in France, and Amy Baker, Deputy Head of Mission, welcomed partners and speakers, for the first meeting between all the participants of this conference.
The event included plenary sessions, workshops, and field visits. The conference gathered many participants from all over the world (nearly ten nationalities were represented among more than fifty speakers) concerned by the observation, the analysis, and the good practices related to the improvement of security in mobility, such as political agents, researchers, representatives of transport operators, NGOs, and institutional representatives.
Nearly 180 participants attended the conference, coming from 138 different companies and representing more than 20 countries from 4 continents.
The ICPC would like to thank the Government of Quebec and the Government of Canada for their financial support in the development of this conference. We were pleased to have Omar Alghabra’ support, Minister of Transport of Canada, via a video contribution and to host Michelle Boisvert, Delegate General of Quebec in Paris, in person, taking part in the opening remarks.
The opening plenary of the conference was introduced by the ICPC. Michelle Côté, Director of Research, and Florilène Cornier, Analyst and Project Officer, presented the conceptual framework of the conference around the current issues of safety in mobilities that are spread across the world. It was the opportunity to share the organization’s different expertise on the topic as well as the importance of a differential analysis of these safety issues from one country to another.
During these two days of conferences, workshops were dedicated to specific phenomena, such as the fight against fraud, harassment in transport, prevention against the terrorist threat and crisis management, analysis of crime in transport and aggression to staff. These topics, among many others, were addressed by various representatives of transport operators discussing key security issues and how to prevent them.
Discussions about effective tools to measure, analyze and study the phenomenon, examples of strong pathways and platforms for knowledge transfer, presentations of crime and safety approaches specific to mobility, effective evaluation as well as dissemination of best practices, were also part of these exchanges.
Participants were also able to select and participate in one of the five different visits and demonstrations to further their practical knowledge:
Two dog team demonstrations, cyno-detection, and cyno-attack by the Société nationale des chemins de fer français est l’entreprise ferroviaire publique française (SNCF).
A demonstration of intervention techniques by the SNCF.
A training offered by the Régie autonome des transports parisiens (RATP) on awareness for victims of harassment. Presentation of the Stand UP project and the 5D method in order to learn how to react safely in a harassment situation in a public place, as a victim or a witness.
A visit organized by the RATP of the security devices and the security headquarters at the Gare de Lyon metro station. This visit allowed experts to discover the operating methods of security interventions.
Presentation of a social collection bus by the RATP. This presentation was an opportunity to discover an original prevention system for reaching out to homeless people and fighting social exclusion and ensuring the safety of its transport systems.
Being at its seventh event, this international conference has truly become a meeting point for crime observation and crime analysis.
It should be noted that the proceedings of the conference will soon be available online.
7TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE OBSERVATION, ANALYSIS AND PREVENTION OF INSECURITY: SECURITY IN MOBILITY
Paris, October 4, 2022 – The ICPC, in collaboration with the French Ministry of Transport, the International union of railways, the International Association of Public Transport, the Union of Public Transports, Safe.brussels, the Institute of Higher Studies of the Ministry of the Interior, the government of Quebec and the government of Canada, announces the opening of its 7th International Conference on the Observation, Analysis and Prevention of Insecurity, on October 5 and 6, 2022, at the premises of the International Union of Railways (16, rue Jean-Rey, Paris).
As part of the series of international conferences on crime observation and analysis organized by the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime since 2007, the 7th edition will focus on the theme of security in mobility.
The event is expected to welcome 200 participants including nearly 50 international speakers. These experts and practitioners will share their knowledge as well as their initiatives and best practices in the prevention of insecurity in mobility.
The conference will address various levels of analysis: global trends in mobility security, national and local government strategies in prevention, working experiences of community institutions and associations, new research approaches, as well as workshops on specific and practical aspects in this field.
It will aim to provide a space for exchange between experts in mobility security in order to identify avenues for innovation, action, knowledge transfer and applied research as well as partnership opportunities between key actors in these fields.
Date and place of the conference: 5 and 6 October 2022, International Union of Railways, 16, rue Jean-Rey, Paris.
In January 2022, the ICPC welcomed a new employee to the team: Eva Croci.
Eva, Research Assistant Intern, is currently doing her master’s in international public policy at Sherbrooke University. As part of her studies, she is doing a supervised project on Western far-right terrorism with the UNESCO Chair in Prevention of Radicalisation and Violent Extremism, an ICPC partner. She gained experience as a research assistant at Sherbrooke University where she worked on issues related to terrorism and cybercrime. As part of her internship, she will work especially on projects with a focus on the prevention of the glorification of firearms on social media.
As part of the development of the Réseau d’échange et de soutien aux actions locales (Network for exchange and local action support, RÉSAL)’s community of practice, of which ICPC is a member and the coordinator, a fourth training session in a series of activities planned this fall was held on November 11th. This training session mainly addressed community workers in Montreal to introduce methods of approach, of contact, and of intervention in street work for people working with youth and with people living in difficult situations.
The activity was hosted by Maxime Bonneau, clinic coordinator and trainer for PACT de rue, a community organization and RÉSAL member that works directly with youth and people in difficulty to promote a healthy lifestyle and prevent risk behaviors.
The following subjects were discussed:
The definition and history of street work;
How to do field observation;
How to integrate a living environment well;
How to master intervention methods.
More information about other training sessions offered:
As part of the DataJam Against Exploitation 2021, the first online innovation competition in Canada, a “Participant Handbook” was developed and published. The event, financed by the Government of Canada, was organized in partnership between the ICPC, Fundación Pasos Libres, IBM, and the UNODC.
The handbook was adapted and translated collaboratively by the Fundación Pasos Libres, the ICPC and the UNODC from an earlier version published by Fundación Pasos Libres, with the support of IBM Corporate Social Responsibility, as part of the training materials for the DataJam Pasos Libres Online 2020, the first international contest of its kind, also on human trafficking.
The DataJam Against exploitation, held in May 2021, aimed to develop technological solutions to spot and fight human trafficking in Canada, especially the trafficking of youth, indigenous people, and members of the LGBTQI+ community. The contest also hoped to increase public awareness of human trafficking, to improve participants knowledge and resources, and to further intersectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration. The handbook contains three explanatory modules offering the reader an introduction to human trafficking in Canada and related issues, an overview of data’s importance in the fight against this crime, and case studies.
The first module, Introduction to Human Trafficking, discusses means of exploitation, risk factors, and recruitment and control methods. It also takes a brief look at different forms of legislation aimed at the prevention of human trafficking.
The second module, Human Trafficking and Data, explores the importance of data in the fight against human trafficking. It gives a few examples of key industries and compelling data as well as certain data security and protection considerations.
The last module, Case Studies / Cases of Success, is on three organizations and initiatives that used the power of data and collaboration to prevent and fight human trafficking.
The goal of this guide, mainly intended for project managers and coordinators in charge of organizing these evaluations, is to provide a simple, systematic, and adaptable methodology for developing and implementing impact evaluation processes for cannabis use in youth prevention programs. It is based on public health and urban safety approaches to impact assessment.
First, through five modules, the Guide d'évaluation des programmes de prévention de consommation du cannabis chez les jeuneslays out concrete program analysis tools to better define the issues and the importance of the evaluation. Founded on official and recent scientific studies, this analysis tool, in simple steps, renders a global understanding of the reach and success of programs, the evaluation of which can be complex. With a realistic approach, we address this question by offering a hybrid method, combining the evaluation of the stages of the program’s implementation, and evaluation of the results.
Then, as a complement to this tool, a four chapter module titled La légalisation du cannabis : comment y répondre avec les programmes de prévention de consommation du cannabis chez les jeunes emphasizes program conception to support municipalities in their strategic development around these issues.
The ICPC was recently invited to join the Traffik Analysis Hub (TA Hub), which is aimed at global human trafficking prevention. It is a joint effort from across different sectors and industries, governments, and NGO partners, all committed to sharing data and knowledge in order to help the fight against human trafficking.
On May 28th, the ICPC took part in the Analyst monthly call, along with representatives from multiple partners of the TA Hub. At the meeting, some new features of the platform were presented, and some of the practical challenges were discussed as well as possible avenues to overcome them.
Friday June 4th, at the end of the DataJam Against Exploitation that brought together 75 participants of 16 different nationalities, the winning teams were announced. In first place came Buyer Resist from Vancouver who created a web app that helped track traffickers by comparing the text from escort agency adds across Canada. They will receive a monetary prize and a spot in the IBM Incubator Program to help them further develop their project. They will also be invited to participate in the DataJam Pasos Libres 2021 that will take place on a world-wide scale in the fall, and lastly, their project will be promoted by all the co-organizers of the DataJam Against Exploitation.
Team Scotiabank AMA from Toronto, 5 data scientists from Scotiabank Anti-Money Laundering Models and Analytics (AML), came in second place, and the third place went to CDL Team from Montreal and affiliated with Montreal Institute of Learning Algorithms (Mila). This event marked the official ending of the competition.