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What you can do: Organizations working on trafficking

> Work with volunteers to raise awareness

> Useful tools

Work with volunteers to raise awareness

Does your organization already work on trafficking issues? Here are some tips to help engage volunteers in raising awareness about trafficking in persons.

  1. Establish and define the role of specific volunteers in outreach and awareness-raising activities and explain what is expected of them. For example:
  • Public speakers and community educators can reach out to different audiences in communities and speak at events about the realities of trafficking and the different experiences and issues faced by trafficked persons in Canada;
  • Volunteers can support the development of resources to share information on trafficking;
  • Volunteers can apply their skills to organize events, education and advocacy activities and/or create awareness-raising material, according to their experience and areas of interest: translation, research, event planning, design, and more;
  • Volunteers can assist in setting up booths at events and sharing your organization’s resources.
  1. Introduce the main issues and the work of your organization to new volunteers:
  • What is trafficking?
  • How does trafficking show up in their community/province/region?
  • What is your organization’s mission and what kind of work does it do?
  • What does it mean to represent your organization?
  • Where do your volunteers fit in and how can they help your organization fulfil its mission through their skills? What is their motivation in becoming involved and how can the relationship be mutually beneficial?
  • Communicate the impact your volunteers have through their work in supporting and leading awareness-raising activities on trafficking.
  • How can they get started?
  • Getting and staying informed and building a knowledge base;
  • Attending regular meetings and speaking to other volunteers and staff members;
  • Making use of tools with basic information about trafficking.

  1. Clarify what it means to raise awareness about trafficking – sharing and increasing knowledge, speaking up about the key issues involving trafficking and facing trafficked persons in Canada, inspiring others to take action:
  • Trafficking exists in Canada;
  • Trafficking is a human rights issue;
  • Policy developments can have either positive or negative impacts on trafficked persons;
  • Canadian law does not protect the rights of trafficked persons;
  • Legislative amendment is needed to bring a permanent and fundamental change in policy so that trafficked persons in Canada are protected.
  1. Ask for feedback:

Ask for reactions from the people affected by the awareness-raising efforts and volunteer roles, including comments from the community and organizations benefiting from the resources being developed and presented. This will be important information to track the impact both your organization and your volunteers are having.

Useful tools

To support your organization’s awareness-raising efforts by guiding volunteers’ engagement:

ACT Alberta Volunteer Handbook and Community Education Training

These resources were developed to guide volunteers and staff members supporting the organization across Alberta through its mission, goals and protocols. These can be useful as models to provide structure to your organization’s anti-trafficking activities, and specifically its awareness-raising and outreach efforts. To request a copy or for further information, please contact: info@actalberta.org.

Persons Against the Crime of Trafficking in Humans (PACT) Ottawa Volunteer Handbook

Developed to guide volunteers through the organization’s mission, goals and tools and to allow them to apply their own individual skills and abilities to PACT’s anti-trafficking work. To request a copy or for further information, please contact: info@pact-ottawa.org.

 

 

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