ACT Alberta rolls out #EliminatingLanguageBarriers initiative
This year’s theme for World Trafficking in Persons Day (July 30) is "Reach Every Victim of Trafficking, Leave No One Behind." In the context of trafficking in persons, leaving people behind means:
Failing to end the exploitation of trafficking victims,
Failing to support victim-survivors once they are free from their traffickers, and
Leaving identifiable groups vulnerable to traffickers.
This campaign “aims to raise awareness of disturbing developments and trends identified by the latest UNODC Global Report on Trafficking in Persons and calls on governments, law enforcement, public services, and civil society to assess and enhance their efforts to strengthen prevention, identify and support victims, and end impunity.” – United Nations.
To answer this call to action, we are rolling out a new initiative that provides translated materials to Canadian newcomers about their rights in Alberta. We have developed QR code stickers with access to materials about Temporary Foreign Worker rights and human trafficking information in Spanish, Punjabi, Chinese, French, and Tagalog. Phase One of this initiative is the addition of this QR code to all the safety stickers in the Edmonton International Airport (EIA).
“YEG is always looking for progressive and innovative ways to increase safety measures for every single person who comes through our airport. As the prevalence of human trafficking in our communities grows, we know as an international airport we have an important and unique opportunity to help prevent it.” – Steve Maybee, Vice President Infrastructure, Facilities and Airside Operations, Edmonton International Airport.
The rollout of ACT Alberta’s newly translated materials includes Temporary Foreign Workers Rights in Alberta, What is Human Trafficking, Have you been Labour Trafficked, and Have you been Sex Trafficked.
Kate Price, Executive Director of ACT Alberta, notes the importance of this initiative, “We consistently hear from survivors that language is one of the biggest barriers in understanding their rights and knowing if their situation is okay or if there is something off. This is a monumental step towards allowing individuals access to their rights in Alberta in their own language. Our hopes are, that by knowing these rights from the onset, the signs of a trafficking situation will be clearer to potential victims.”
The importance of these translated documents for potential victims of human trafficking cannot be understated. Often traffickers will falsify information about what the victims’ legal rights are, what is required of them to work in Canada, and much more. Knowing that in Canada, all workers are protected by law is of utmost importance in the fight against human trafficking in our country.
“This is just the start. We hope EIA will be the first in a long list of airports and transportation partners across the country to join this initiative and continue gaining momentum in this very important movement” continues Kate, “this work cannot be done by one organization alone, it takes powerful compassion and collaboration to end human trafficking. We believe that together, that goal is within reach.”
Are you part of an organization that would like to join this initiative to “Reach Every Victim of Trafficking”?
Contact us for more information!