Why Brave?

Most of the women I’ve met on the streets and in the brothels of Western cities haven’t come from far away, impoverished villages on the other side of the globe, like we so often hear or imagine. They started in marginalization; foster-care, racism, abuse.

In a 2018 report to The House of Commons on human trafficking, Mr. Trevor Bhupsingh, Director General, Law Enforcement and Border Strategies Directorate, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, provided “that most of the risk, in terms of being victimized through human trafficking in Canada, tends to be for those groups that are either socially or economically disadvantaged.” Risk factors include poverty, social isolation, homelessness, precarious housing situation, isolation, child abuse, history of violence, drug addictions, mental health issues as well as a lack of education and employment opportunities. The more vulnerable groups identified in the National Action Plan and by several witnesses during this study are Indigenous women, girls and children, LGBTQ2 individuals, migrants and new immigrants, children in foster care and young runaways. https://www.ourcommons.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/JUST/report-24/page-66#14

 The stats are alarming! In America 70-80% of street and indoor prostituted people trafficked in America come from “the system.” In Canada those specific stats are much lower but mostly because our system stops counting at age 16 – while in America it’s 18. Most experts understand that it is exactly between those ages that most sexual exploitation happens.  It’s not hard to imagine why. The future for marginalized kids is not bright. When they “age out” of care, there is very little support to help navigate the perplexing and challenging realities of real life. Well, actually, there is someone there: a pimp or trafficker. Like lambs to a slaughter we let vulnerable girls walk out of care or marginalization and into the hands of exploiters.

So what do we do? Well, we think it’s time to be brave.

A few years ago I moved to Los Angeles and found my office in Long Beach. I quickly connected with a group of amazing leaders there.  After learning these stats and hearing these stories in their own community, decided to do something about it. They got together and began to respond to the need. What started as a conversation led to a local event. Out of the event came the formation of meaningful relationships with vulnerable girls and government services, NGO’s, caretakers, and community groups. Those relationships and community response make a massive difference right where they are.

A local catalytic event is not the whole answer—but it’s a great start.

When I saw what they had started, I knew it held the keys for many other communities as well. I know that the best world-changing ideas always start at the grassroots. And this is a grassroots response from heartbroken people who believe that there is another story for vulnerable girls – a story of empowerment.  As I shared with others the horrifying statistics and the story of this amazing local response, people started to ask for details. How did they do it exactly? What happens at this “catalytic” event? How could our community do it? This soon became a movement of communities being Brave.

This is BRAVE Global Canada.

A campaign that invites people to reach out to the most vulnerable girls with a message of empowerment in every community across Canada. We know that this is only the beginning, but we also fiercely believe that every at-risk girl has a future and a hope that is bright with possibilities. We will keep dreaming and planning for them. We are going to be brave enough to tell them that, and then to journey with them to fight for their freedom and their future together.

They aren’t the problem—they are the solution.