Back to back announcements in Canada and the U.S. have announced current efforts working against human trafficking in North America.
Here in Canada, the Nova Scotia RCMP launched a human trafficking awareness campaign.
Their campaign, which was announced on Thursday, is aimed at the hospitality and transportation industries.
Human trafficking, which involves controlling, forcing, intimidating or deceiving a person of any age in order to exploit them through various forms of sexual exploitation or forced labour, can happen anywhere, according to RCMP.
In an effort to increase awareness around these issues, Partners in Policing are introducing Say Something if you See Something, an education and awareness campaign.
“We know that human trafficking and sexual exploitation can take place in all kinds of properties from budget motels to luxury hotels and resorts, and that air and ground transportation is often used to carry out these criminal acts,” said Constable Tammy Lobb, VICE Unit of the Integrated Criminal Investigations Division, in a statement. “We believe that employees in the hospitality and public transportation industries can play a positive role in preventing these offences by reporting their concerns to police.”
Say Something if you See Something was first launched in the UK and versions of the campaign have since been rolled out in communities in Canada and the United States.
The campaign is aimed at local businesses, and provides support, resources, and information on how employees should respond if they believe human trafficking/sexual exploitation is occurring at their workplace.
“It's our hope that by increasing awareness about these important issues, we can ultimately help victims get out of situations in which they haven't willingly put themselves,” said Lobb. “A simple observation or call can make all the difference in the world to someone being sexually exploited or trafficked.”
For more information on the campaign, you can visit their website.
On Friday, a similar announcement was made out of the U.S.
Gabriela Isler, Miss Universe 2013 and Founder and President of the Universe of Blessings Fund, and Patrick Gage, anti-trafficking advocate and family affiliate with hotel brands such as the Radisson and Country Inn & Suites, have released a video announcing the creation of a fund to combat human trafficking in advance of the Super Bowl.
Isler was in California when she made the video announcement.
"As you cheer on your favorite team, 20.9 million men, women, and children are trapped in modern-day slavery as victims of human trafficking,” said Isler. “In the time it takes to run a single football play, another victim joins their ranks."
Targeting the Big Game's vast audience, Isler’s goal is to remind people that human trafficking and modern-day slavery still exist, with 60,000 trafficking victims living in the U.S. right now.
"This plague knows no borders," Isler said.
In the video, Gage, who is also an advisory member of the board of the Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN), announced the creation of the Scalabrinian Action Fund to End Trafficking (SAFETY).
SIMN operates 270 facilities across the globe in service to migrants, including victims of human trafficking.
Pope Francis has publicly thanked those involved with Scalabrini.
"Gabriela and I are proud to join SIMN in establishing this fund, proceeds of which will go towards fighting what Pope Francis has called a 'crime against humanity,'" Gage said.
Contributions can be made to SAFETY through their website.
An anonymous donor has already agreed to match donations to the fund up to $100,000.
"Every little bit helps," Gage concluded. "The money you spend on a party for the Big Game this weekend might just save a victim of human trafficking."
