Human trafficking survivors in Ottawa now have another place to turn.
The Hope Found Project was launched by Voice Found, an Ottawa non-profit that works to prevent child sex abuse and sex trafficking and provide healing, recovery and support to the growing number of human trafficking survivors coming forward in Eastern Ontario.
The project is the first survivor-led and trauma-informed service for human trafficking survivors in Eastern Ontario, a region recognized by founder and chief executive Cynthia Bland as having a surprising prevalence of human trafficking.
“Human trafficking can happen anywhere,” said Simone Bell, a survivor of human trafficking and currently the only peer-mentor with The Hope Found Project. “It can happen even in a sleepy government town like Ottawa.”
Human trafficking in Ottawa is a $26-million-a-year enterprise, with an estimated 140 number of victims, according to a report produced by PACT-Ottawa, or Persons Against the Crime of Trafficking Humans.
Human trafficking became a priority for Ottawa police in 2014 with the formation of a specialized human trafficking unit.
Cynthia Bland, (L) Founder and CEO of Voice Found, and Simone Bell, Peer Mentor, are the principals in a new project called The Hope Found Project, designed to get women and men out of a human trafficking situation which has resulted in them being sexually exploited through mainly prostitution. Simone herself was the victim of human trafficking.
Bell, who was trafficked over a four year period in Canada, offers support to other survivors as a peer-mentor at Voice Found — a key focal point of The Hope Found Project.
“I know what it is like to feel trafficked, to feel powerless and objectified,” said Bell. “We are the most important voice. We are the experts in the field.”
The organization collaborates with Ottawa police to combat what they call one of the city’s emerging crime trends.
Such collaboration is needed among all services, including law enforcement, researchers and non-profits like Voice Found and the Ottawa Coalition to End Human Trafficking, said Bland.
“The issue of youth forced into human trafficking is recognized as a really problem in our community,” said Mayor Jim Watson. “This new initiative comes at a very critical time.”
The project hopes to serve as many human trafficking survivors as possible and to recruit more peer mentors to raise a collective voice and deliver more help to those looking to get out of the sex trade.
But there are not enough resources to serve the growing number of survivors coming forward, said Bell.
“There are places that have closed due to funding. The Hope Found Project will fill the gaps and build bridges between existing services from a variety of service providers and organization.”
The project has been made possible through funding provided by the Department of Justice to Voice Found through the Victim Fund.
The Ottawa police human trafficking unit didn’t reply to a request for comment.
