WHO WE SERVE
Aurora House is composed of two renovated multi-level units that provide housing to people who identify as women, as well as women with young children or expectant mothers who have been trafficked or otherwise exploited in Canada. We plan accommodation to be as flexible as possible in order to meet the diverse and fluctuating needs of the survivors who are referred to us.
Aurora House is not a traditional safe house, but rather a long-term transitional house. We offer a safe place for women who were victims of trafficking or gender-based violence, who seek continued support on their individual journeys towards independent living. Aurora House serves as a much-needed buffer between traditional emergency-stage and second-stage safe houses and complete independence.
Aurora House keeps its location private due to the specific safety concerns faced by our residents. We feel it's always wise not to publicize spaces that serve people who may still be emotionally or otherwise vulnerable.
WHAT IS HUMAN TRAFFICKING?
Simply defined, human trafficking is the trade and sale of human beings. While human trafficking can occur across international borders, it does not always involve the movement of a person from one physical place to another.
The Government of Canada and Public Safety Canada explains human trafficking as involving the recruiting, potential transportation, and holding of victims with the goal of exploitation, generally for sex or labour.
Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal enterprise globally and is expected to, or may have already, surpassed trafficking of drugs and arms as the largest sector of organized crime in existence. It is believed that annual human trafficking sales can be represented at an estimated $31 billion.
Human trafficking is condemned as a violation of human rights by international conventions.
The United Nations Trafficking Protocol, or Palermo Protocol, which was entered into force in December 2003 is the first international, legally binding instrument in place to combat human trafficking. This protocol describes trafficking as:
“(a) [...] the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal, manipulation or implantation of organs;
(b) The consent of a victim of trafficking in persons to the intended exploitation set forth in sub-paragraph (a) of this article shall be irrelevant where any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) have been used;
(c) The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation shall be considered “trafficking in persons” even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in sub-paragraph (a) of this article;
(d) “Child” shall mean any person under eighteen years of age.”