Policing and Community Well-Being - Human Trafficking Educational Walk and Community Awareness Event
#StuckInTraffick
Project Background
This walk was developed as a result of a third-year Policing and Community Well-Being (PLCW) course that was offered for the first time in the Spring 2022. The course, Problem Solving in Diverse and Complex Communities (PLCW 3007H) focuses on developing key problem-solving and collaboration skills necessary to address wider community safety and well-being issues. Currently, this course focuses specifically on human trafficking in the Durham Region. Students work directly with the Durham Region Police, Ontario Works, Victim Services, and the Region of Durham to propose recommendations on how best to respond to human trafficking. Solutions that were proposed by students ranged anywhere from GIS mapping tools, hotel staff training, Indigenous-specific training for police officers, and a social media campaign for vulnerable teenagers. We are pleased and proud to be able to incorporate the work of our students by adopting the #StuckInTraffick hashtag created by Jacob Trubecki as part of the social media project he completed with his partner Alexander Lesage in PLCW 3007 in 2022.
This course highlighted the necessity of human trafficking interventions in the Durham region. It was clear that human trafficking is a complex, pervasive issue that is not well known by the community. The issue requires a collective effort by key stakeholders in the community: police services, victim services, educational institutions, and citizens. As a result of this class, one of our fourth year PLCW students, Robyn Dombroski, secured a placement to work with program coordinator Dr. Amy Spendik to develop this walk and educational event. Our goal is to continue the partnerships between the Policing and Community Well-Being program and Durham community partners.
For more information on the Policing and Community Well-Being program, please see the links below or follow us on Instagram @plcwattrent.
Spring 2023 - #StuckinTraffick Walk
PLCW hosted a successful educational walk to raise awareness for human trafficking in the Durham Region. Participants chose either a 2 and 6.5 km narrated walk, making strategic stops along the way to highlight how human trafficking occurs in our community. After the completion of the walk, participants were invited back to Trent University Durham to take part in a resource fair and listen to guest speakers that included Durham Regional Police Services, Victim's Services of Durham Region, and hear the story of a human trafficked survivor.