Human Trafficking Series

healthy talks for young adults human trafficking series

What do consent, healthy relationships, and safe working conditions have in common? How can you protect yourself and support others? What role can you play in ending human trafficking? 

Our Healthy Talks: Introduction to Human Trafficking Series tackles these big questions and more. 

Human trafficking is complicated, but we break it down, clearing up myths you may have seen in the media and building a strong foundation to recognize the real issues. Through conversations about consent, sex positivity, healthy relationships, and safe work environments, we show why anti-oppressive, anti-racist, and harm reduction approaches matter. Not sure what those mean? Don’t worry, we’ll walk you through it. You’ll also learn how inequality, racism, and discrimination are the root causes human trafficking—and how you can challenge them in everyday life. 

Episodes include: 

  • Episode 1: Dr. Nicole D. McFadyen unpacks myths vs. facts about human trafficking in Canada, with tips on consent and safety.
  • Episode 2: Carina Raven shares her story as an Indigenous woman and trafficking survivor, exploring racism, consent, and the difference between trafficking and sex work
  • Episode 3: Dr. AnnaLise Trudell dives into sex positivity, harm reduction, and how to support survivors and sex workers. 

  


Episode 1 – Unpacking Human Trafficking in Canada: An Introduction

“How we think about human trafficking impacts and shape the solutions we imagine.” – Dr. Nicole D. McFadyen 

Dr. Nicole D. McFadyen is a social anthropologist and researcher who is currently contract faculty in the Department of Anthropology at York University. She has been researching human trafficking, migrant worker rights, sex worker rights, LGBTQ2S+ rights, and related issues for over 10 years. 

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Episode 2 – Carina Raven’s Experiences Surviving Human Trafficking

“The police just completely failed me.” – Carina Raven 

Carina Raven is an Indigenous woman originally from the Northwest Territories who is currently living and working in Toronto, Ontario. She was brought into a trafficking situation not long after turning 18 and escaped months later. She has worked in the sex industry, online and offline, for the past eight years, and is committed to educating people about Indigenous issues, sex work, consent, and her trafficking experience. In the future, she hopes to return to school to pursue a degree in the social sciences. 

Episode 3 – Sex & Choice: What do they have to do with trafficking?

“We don’t rescue people. We don’t go into other peoples’ lives and rescue them. They rescue themselves if that’s something that they think they need and we are there and we show up with the resources that they need to do that.”

– Dr. AnnaLise Trudell 

Dr. AnnaLise Trudell is a gender-equity consultant and the manager of Education, Training & Research at Anova, the women’s shelter and sexual assault centre in London Ontario. She brings extensive analysis of the causes and impacts of gender-based violence and of prevention programming through her doctoral and postdoctoral research at Western University. As Manager at Anova for over a decade, she has overseen the facilitation, curriculum development and evaluation of youth anti-violence programming and professional trainings. She is a seasoned public educator and facilitator with over 500 lectures and presentations engaging youth, professionals & post-secondary students through public education. 


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