Awareness on Human Trafficking Growing

On Monday, June 22, Chandra and I gave a presentation on human trafficking to a group of at Kanata Community Christian Reformed Church. The evening was organized by Jacquie Mudde, Chandra’s aunt, and Lois Kerr, both of whom are involved in the Ottawa Intercity Ministries (OIM).

OIM is a local inter-denominational organization that provides food, shelter, and other support services for the homeless and those living in poverty in Ottawa. At the moment, OIM’s services are directed primarily towards men, as are many other similar services in Ottawa. There is a growing recognition of the need for more services for women who are experiencing homelessness and poverty, and a group within OIM – of which Jacquie and Lois are involved – is examining what kinds of shelter and other services are needed.

Jacquie and Lois invited us to speak about trafficking in order to learn more about the issue, and particularly its impact on vulnerable women.

Jacquie introduced us both, and Lois provided a few words on the OIM and its work. Lois’ friend then spoke of a recent experience she had when a homeless women secretly sought shelter in her home in the Kanata area. The story provided some insight into the fact that – despite appearances – poverty and homelessness does often exist in our own neighbourhoods, even affluent ones.

I told a few stories of recent cases of trafficking in Canada and Chandra then gave an overview of trafficking, both globally and domestically. I outlined recent legislation (blog link) related to trafficking, and discussed what more needs to be done to prevent it. Chandra then rounded out the presentation by discussing the nature of human rights and dignity in the context of trafficking.

We followed our presentation with a lively discussion on trafficking and human dignity. The twenty individuals who attended our talk shared some significant insights about the relationships between trafficking and poverty, the exploitation of women, and gender relations within our society as a whole.

This was the second presentation that I had attended in the past two weeks, and it’s been great to see so much interest in the issue. Awareness about trafficking is the first step towards preventing this horrendous crime, and individual citizens and community groups have an important role to play in doing so.