Thunder Bay, ON – In honour of United Nations World Day Against Trafficking in Persons (July 30), the Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA)’s Indigenous Anti-Human Trafficking Liaison (IAHTL) Program has distributed safeSPACES yard signs and will be hosting a live virtual event on July 29th. ONWA works together each day to create tools and resources for community members and organizations by providing education and training.
Violence against Indigenous women and girls contributes to the normalization of violence and teaches young women to accept this as part of their lives. Indigenous women and girls targeted by human traffickers “comprise a disproportionate number of those sexually exploited in Canada through human trafficking” (Journey to Safe SPACES Report). This needs to end. Indigenous women have the right to live in safety, free from the threat, fear, or experience of exploitation and violence.
ONWA safeSPACES’s yard sign campaign is aimed at enhancing traditional bundles of safety. The goal is to increase practical knowledge, in-depth overviews of these issues, and teachings on how to build inner strength and move towards healing. The yard signs are equipped with a QR code that can be scanned with any smartphone and will open to ONWA’s Human Trafficking (HT) resource page; these signs are an opportunity to raise community awareness to stand up against human trafficking. ONWA IAHTL provided community partners with safeSPACES yard signs to promote the rights, safety, and dignity of Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit Peoples.
Join ONWA for a live virtual event from 11:00AM-12:00PM EST on Friday, July 29, 2022. This presentation will provide information, resources, techniques, and strategies to help create safer neighbourhoods. It is important to take the time to learn more about human trafficking and what it looks like in communities. Register for the event at https://bit.ly/3AXSsqI or watch the livestream on ONWA’s Facebook page.
The first step to preventing human trafficking is to learn more about the conditions that cause it.
For more information:
Andre Morriseau, Communications Manager
Ontario Native Women’s Association (ONWA)
Email: amorriseau@onwa.ca
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