Coalition reaching out to human trafficking survivors online

At a breakfast launch in Sudbury of a website dedicated to reaching out to human trafficking survivors, one of the project's proponents said her goal is to work herself out of a job.

Tiffany Pyoli York is the anti-human trafficking co-ordinator and public educator with Sudbury and Area Victim Services (SAVS), as well as the founder of the Greater Sudbury Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition.

She has a background in police foundations and social services, and spent more than a decade working within the shelter system.

Pyoli York told Sudbury.com this time spent working with vulnerable and marginalized populations made her want to do more, especially for women and families.

“My heart is with women and families,” she said, “So working in anti human trafficking really fit that piece for me.”

The Coalition is made up of stakeholders that serve survivors of human trafficking, and those who may encounter survivors in their work, including the OPP, Atikameksheng Anishinabek, Sudbury Counselling Centre, Children's Aid Society of the Districts of Sudbury and Maniutoulin, Health Sciences North, Centre Victoria pour femmes, Sudbury Rainbow Crime Stoppers, Sudbury Women's Centre, (where the breakfast was held), Sudbury Victim Services and Greater Sudbury Police.

There is even a new training module being developed that will be offered on the site, said Pyoli York.

The website itself features education, information about the group partners, as well as the signs of trafficking that many may miss, and how to identify exploitation.

The site also has safety features, including a list of instructions of how to hide that you've visited the site, as well as a “one-click exit.” Clicking a button on the site will immediately take the user to an innocuous home page.

Pyoli York said she hopes that the partners within the coalition will all bring something unique to the table.

“When we have these really high needs clients, those who maybe have been disappointed by the systems before, we're able to come together with these coalition partners to say ‘we've got this really great network that will find what works for you',” she said.

Greater Sudbury has a different definition to each service, said Pyoli York, and that means also working with other Northern communities.

“We work with Timmins, we work with Nipissing, we work with Thunder Bay, and we're seeing what they're doing with their coalitions and seeing how we can kind of ‘rejig' that,” she said. “We're asking, ‘What are your challenges, are they similar to challenges that we're facing — and let's not reinvent the wheel here, let's collaborate and do the best work that we can, together.”

Pyoli York said the truths of what human trafficking needs to get out, because many survivors she has spoken to didn't know at first that they were being trafficked.

“They really thought that this person, in that power and control position, was a partner, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, an auntie or an uncle,” she said. “We need education for them as well, letting them know that this is not OK, this is exploitation, you don't have to give a service for basic needs.”

Pyoli York also told Sudbury.com there is a place for recovery as well, and a chance for survivors to work with others in the same situation.

“We actually have survivor-led life skills teaching programs, so it really comes full circle,” she said. “It's absolutely an amazing feeling for me to watch someone who has accessed services go through that process of healing, and now be able to become that advisor and that advocate, and putting that forth into the community to say, I've been there, I get it, and this is what I can do to help. And that really means a lot to the youth that we're working with, to have that survivor perspective.”

You can find the website at www.Endhumantraffickingsudbury.ca.

Human trafficking can be reported by calling the Greater Sudbury Police Service at 705-675-9171, Sudbury Crime Stoppers at 705-222-8477, or the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-833-900-1010. The Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline is a confidential, multilingual service that operates 24/7.

Human trafficking can also be reported to GSPS by filing a report through the online reporting system: GSPS.ca/en/reporting/human-trafficking.aspx.

Jenny Lamothe is a reporter with Sudbury.com. She covers the diverse communities of Sudbury, especially the vulnerable or marginalized, including the Black, Indigenous, newcomer and Francophone communities, as well as 2SLGBTQ+ and the downtown core.