LONDON, ONT. -- The London Police Service has received a $98,000 grant from the Ministry of the Attorney General to help educate and combat human trafficking in the region.

“We know that this is a topic that the public is really not well informed on,” said Deputy Police Chief Trish McIntyre. “To educate and then to look at what do we do about this risk, is incredibly positive.”

London is known to be a corridor for human trafficking because of its proximity to large cities and major highways.

“London is a sex trafficking hub, “ said Megan Walker from the London Abused Women’s Centre.

“Even through COVID, we are receiving calls on an ongoing basis from family members who are telling us that their daughters have been lured online into the sex trade.”

The grant funding will be used over the next year to educate and inform about the dangers of human trafficking through social agencies, schools and the public at large.