EDMONTON – Anglicans from the Ecclesiastical Province of Rupert’s Land, as well as the dioceses of Western Newfoundland and New Westminster, gathered here in October to hear about and discuss human trafficking in their communities. Participants heard from speakers, including Taanis Bellerose, an Indigenous survivor of sexual exploitation. Ms. Bellerose, who was brought into the sex trade at age 12 and lived on the street for 25 years, now works as an advocate for others who have been exploited sexually.
The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking is developing a hotline to provide round-the-clock help to trafficking victims, and hopes to launch the service in the spring, said Barb Gosse, the centre’s CEO. She told attendants that churches provide valuable help in the struggle against human trafficking. “You are our eyes and ears on the ground; you have potential volunteers around you all the time and you are a powerful community of assistance providers,” she said.
The meeting was the third of four regional conferences planned by the Anglican Church of Canada’s departments of Public Witness for Social and Ecological Justice and Global Relations. Similar events, funded by General Synod and the Anglican Foundation of Canada, have already been held in the ecclesiastical provinces of Ontario and Canada. The fourth, for the Ecclesiastical Province of British Columbia and Yukon, is planned for early 2019, and the results are to be presented to General Synod when it meets in July.
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