Victim Services of Leeds and Grenville is raising awareness about human trafficking.
Executive Director Sonya Jodoin says the Human Trafficking Coalition is a group of local professionals that have come together to create a committee to address human trafficking in Leeds and Grenville with the goal of education and awareness. Jodoin says the Mayor of Westport, Robin Jones, started the coalition and right now in Leeds and Grenville they have three or four people that have put their names forward to volunteer.
“The volunteering with the coalition is really about assisting with the public education and awareness. It’s like managing booths at public events, it’s not about intervention.”
Jodoin says human trafficking happens a couple different ways in this area. One way is some people being trafficked on the highways.
“You have your major highways, the 416 and the 401, and people are going up and down those highways on a daily basis and they’re stopping in all of our communities along the way, which means people are buying the services in our communities all along the way.”
Jodoin says there are also people that live in Leeds and Grenville that are being trafficked within the area by people from Leeds and Grenville. She adds there have been over 20 people Victim Services has worked with in the past year and she expects that number to rise with more awareness of this trafficking.
Jodoin says ultimately their goal is to intercept before someone is recruited.
If anyone is interested in a public presentation about human trafficking, email [email protected] for more information.