Fund Workshops to End Trafficking in Canada

Dear Friends,

As we moved into the new year, Aura Freedom continued advancing prevention efforts to end human trafficking and gender-based violence (GBV). This quarter focused on strengthening frontline capacity, deepening cross-sectoral collaboration, and ensuring survivor-centred, trauma- and violence-informed approaches remain central to how communities respond to exploitation. Together, these efforts reinforce a simple truth: prevention, and ultimately eradication, of gender-based violence and human trafficking requires sustained education, collaboration, and systems-level change.

Building Knowledge & Capacity

Between October 2025 and January 2026, Aura Freedom delivered multiple human trafficking and GBV prevention trainings across York Region and Ontario, engaging frontline workers from shelters, healthcare settings, social service agencies, and coordinated community tables.

During this period, we delivered training and education sessions with:

• John Howard Society of York Region, an organization that provides programming to those involved in the legal system, an important intersection considering the leveraging of criminalization against survivors of human trafficking.
  
  
• York Region’s Community Action Tables, formed by local leaders and a broad spectrum of stakeholders and partners, including resident ambassadors, community agencies, service providers, local municipalities, school boards, and more. Community action is made possible through community awareness and education.
  
  
• Catholic Cross-Cultural Services, who supports local immigrants, newcomers, and refugees - groups particularly vulnerable to human trafficking and exploitation, and facing unique barriers to support.
  
  

• The Redwood Shelter, who provide programs and services to women and children fleeing violence. These gender-based violence staff were provided crucial capacity-building in human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
  
  

• St. Michael’s Hospital, providing prevention education and awareness to healthcare workers who come from a sector with unique opportunities to support survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
  
  

• And many more!

Across these sessions, participants explored prevention-based approaches, the reality of human trafficking and sexual exploitation, best practices to support survivors and those at risk, and the systemic conditions that increase vulnerability to exploitation. Many shared that these trainings were their first capacity-building opportunity focused on human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Others shared that these trainings provided a new understanding of the reality of gender-based violence, and the true experiences for survivors.

Advocacy & Public Awareness

Alongside direct training delivery, Aura Freedom continued amplifying prevention messaging through public education and advocacy. During the 16 Days of Activism, we collaborated with partners to elevate conversations around GBV, femicide, and human trafficking, emphasizing how these forms of violence are interconnected and preventable.

This included the re-launch of our Behind Closed Doors campaign, bringing to light that femicide in Canada most often occurs behind the doors of their own home, by the men they share a home with. 

We also continued policy and systems-level engagement related to survivor safety, economic justice, and prevention-focused responses to exploitation. These efforts complement frontline education by addressing the structural conditions that allow trafficking and violence to persist.

Our advocacy included an Analysis of Canada’s 2025 Budget, a written submission to a study on Section 810 of Canada’s Criminal Code undertaken by the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on the Status of Women, the hosting of the Gender-Based Violence Flag-Raising Event at Toronto City Hall, and another submission to the Federal Standing, this time for their study on Anti-Feminist Ideology.

Strengthening Partnerships & Sector Collaboration

Partnerships remain the heartbeat of our work. This quarter, Aura Freedom deepened relationships with shelters, healthcare institutions, social service agencies, and community tables — not only delivering training, but building trust and shared understanding.

We also continued strengthening cross-sector collaboration through initiatives such as the Ontario GBV In The Media Network, which includes intentional focus on promoting responsible reporting and advancing media reforms related to sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. By shifting how violence is framed in public discourse, we help reduce stigma and misinformation while supporting prevention at a broader societal level.

Looking Ahead

As we move further into 2026, our focus is on continuing frontline training delivery and expanding prevention education. We will also carry forward advocacy and public awareness efforts that challenge harmful narratives and centre survivor voices.

Your support makes this work possible. Every training delivered, partnership strengthened, and system influenced brings us closer to a future free from trafficking and violence.

Thank you for standing with us.

With gratitude and solidarity,
Aura Freedom International

Dear Friends,

As summer turned to fall, Aura Freedom continued to build momentum in our mission to end gender-based violence (GBV) and human trafficking (HT). This past quarter was filled with community training and systemic advocacy — all rooted in survivor voices and the belief that prevention is central to eradicating human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and gender-based violence as a whole. 

Building Knowledge & Capacity

Throughout these past few months, we expanded our frontline education and awareness efforts in York Region and beyond. We delivered three frontline training workshops in partnership with organizations such as Sandgate Women’s Shelter, the York Region Centre for Community Safety, and the York Region Child, Youth, and Family Tables. Through our workshops and events, we connected with over 800 individuals, including frontline workers, educators, survivors, and youth - helping them strengthen their understanding of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. What stands out most is not only the number of people reached but the meaningful conversations that followed. Participants shared how these sessions reframed their perspectives, challenged harmful narratives, and provided concrete tools they could immediately apply in their work and daily lives.

Many highlighted the importance of learning about prevention strategies, systemic barriers, and survivor-centred approaches, perspectives that are often missing from public conversations. In fact, several participants shared that they were already witnessing rising trends of trafficking and peer-to-peer recruitment within their communities and organizations, underscoring both the urgency and relevance of this training.

Advocacy & Systemic Action

Beyond direct trainings, Aura Freedom has been a consistent voice in policy spaces this quarter. Particularly to human trafficking and sexual exploitation, we conducted an analysis of both Canadian and Ontario governments, who made announcements on their efforts to address human trafficking in recognition of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. 

Aura Freedom has been actively working to ensure Ontario’s Bill 41 on coerced debts in human trafficking supports real economic justice for survivors. Together with partner organizations, we submitted joint recommendations calling for survivor-led, trauma-informed, and equity-based implementation. Their advocacy emphasized expanding what counts as evidence of coerced debt, using trauma-informed adjudicators, and protecting survivors from lender retaliation. In our own submission, Aura Freedom underscored coerced debt as a tool of exploitation, stressed the importance of restoring survivors’ financial autonomy, and proposed concrete, accessible, and non-adversarial processes that uphold survivors’ dignity and rights.

These initiatives ensure that survivor-centred and trauma-informed approaches are shaping laws, services, and public understanding.

Strengthening Partnerships

Partnerships remain the heartbeat of our work. Through our frontline trainings, attending community events, and conducting collaborative advocacy, we have continued to expand our reach, deepen the trust our communities have in our work, and create sustainable pathways for prevention and survivor support.

This quarter also marked the launch of the Ontario GBV In The Media Network — a groundbreaking space bringing together journalists, survivors, advocates, and GBV professionals to transform how violence is portrayed in the media. Importantly, the Media Guidelines created in the first iteration of our project contained a section for those reporting on Sex Trafficking.

Looking Ahead

As we move into the final months of the year, our focus turns to the 16 Days of Activism. We will have a number of campaigns, events, speaking engagements and more during this time. We’re also preparing to release our City of Toronto research on the root causes of trafficking — research that was informed directly by survivors and community voices.

And on December 1st, our Holiday Silent Auction will launch in support of our life-saving programs such as this. 

None of this would be possible without you — our community of supporters on GlobalGiving. Your generosity fuels prevention education, advocacy, and survivor-led change. Together, we are imagining and building a world free from violence.

With gratitude and solidarity,
Aura Freedom International