By Olivia Allen | Development Manager
Dear Friends,
I hope you are well, healthy, and enjoying the holiday season. At Aura Freedom, we have so much to be grateful for: our health, our dedicated team members, and you - our amazing supporters!
Since we last checked in, we have been busy creating new resources and learning opportunities for people in our community. These resources are important because when people are educated on what human trafficking is and what it looks like, they can be empowered to prevent trafficking in their own lives.
During COVID-19, we have pivoted from in-person awareness presentations and have moved these presentations online. In order to ensure virtual presentations are just as engaging and informative as they are in person, we use break out rooms, group activities, discussions, and have a trained trauma counsellor on every call who is available for one-on-one support through the private chat function or in a private break out room. By doing this, we have been able to provide awareness and education presentations to many frontline workers, teachers, and youth in a way that is COVID-19 safe while still preventing human trafficking.
By making this change, we have been able to provide crucial anti-human trafficking information as guest presenters for organizations like The Learning Network’s webinar on Human Trafficking: Innovative Responses Created By and For Youth and Indigenous Communities, the Freedom Collaborative's event Preventing Human Trafficking by Advancing Equity and Unpacking Root Causes, and MCIS Language Solutions' event Aura Freedom's New Human Trafficking Info Hub.
These events have allowed us to inform viewers about the root causes of exploitation and human trafficking and how to address them. We examined the systemic oppression of marginalized groups, including women and girls, Indigenous and Black women/youth, 2SLGBTQ+ youth, newcomers, and youth in foster care, among others. We also looked at definitions, trends, statistics, the luring and grooming process, risk and protective factors, myths, and much more.
You can view these recorded presentations below:
The Learning Network:
https://www.vawlearningnetwork.ca/webinars/recorded_resource_spotlights/RS_9.html.
Freedom Collaborative:
MCIS Language Solutions:
http://helpingtraffickedpersons.org/
We have also written analyses of important documents relating to human trafficking. Our analysis of the 2021 U.S. Trafficking in Persons Report compares how Canada stands up to other countries in the fight to eliminate human trafficking. We also analysed Ontario’s new mandate for schools to address human trafficking and discuss the importance of utilizing a gender lens, since human trafficking thrives in situations of inequity.
You can read the Trafficking in Persons analysis at https://aurafreedom.org/aura-freedoms-analysis-of-the-2021-tip-report/, read our analysis of the school mandate at https://aurafreedom.org/ontario-mandates-anti-sex-trafficking-in-schools/, or take a look at some of our other work at https://aurafreedom.org/news/.
We have amazing news! At the end of November, we launched a brand new educational resource that we have been working on for months. We could not be more excited that our Human Trafficking Info Hub is live!
This Hub is so important to us at Aura Freedom. The Info Hub houses information on human trafficking, definitions, statistics, warning signs, risk and protective factors, myth busters, and so much more. The Hub incorporates principles of our anti-human trafficking training to provide in-depth resources that are easily accessible for everyone. The Info Hub can be used by educators, parents, youth, frontline workers, healthcare professionals, and anyone else who wants to understand more about human trafficking in a way that is user friendly, engaging, and informative.
We are so proud of this Info Hub and know that it will positively impact the lives of countless individuals. You can explore the Info Hub and learn more about how we address human trafficking by visting https://aurafreedom.org/relentless-resilience/human-trafficking-info-hub/.
We could not have done this work without your support! You have made it possible for us to create resources that will be available for years to come. Your impact will be felt by the countless youth who are empowered to prevent trafficking in their lives and who are educated to recognize warning signs in themselves and others. The impact of your support truly goes beyond the resources we have created. Thank you.
No matter how small your contribution may seem, the impacts it has are immeasurable and will impact the lives of youth for years to come.
We are so grateful for you and we cannot wait to see where your support takes us next.
In solidarity,
Olivia Allen
Development Manager
olivia@aurafreedom.org
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