Event Date: Thursday, December 6, 2018
Responding to Human Trafficking: Complexities and Challenges
Rosemary Nagy - Nipissing University
Thursday, December 6, 2018 @ 2:00 – SSC 6210
The Northeastern Ontario Research Alliance on Human Trafficking (NORAHT) is a research partnership between Nipissing University, the Union of Ontario Indians: Anishinabek Nation, the AIDS Committee of North Bay and Area, and Amelia Rising Sexual Assault Centre of Nipissing. Using participatory action research with service providers and persons with lived experience, NORAHT aims to identify the gaps and barriers in service provision for trafficked persons and their families, to develop a collaborative network in the region, and to create service provider toolkits and other resources. One of the challenges in responding to human trafficking is navigating the "gray area" that exists between coercion and consent in the sex trade. In responding to human trafficking, it is important not to miss people who live in the "gray area." At the same time, however, the label of human trafficking should not be stretched to cover every situation. The presentation shares NORAHT's findings on best practices, regional and survivor needs, and next steps. Particular emphasis is placed on the importance of feminist intersectionality, trauma-informed approaches, harm reduction, agency and resilience, and Indigenous ways of knowing and being.
Rosemary Nagy is Associate Professor in the department of Gender Equality and Social Justice at Nipissing University in North Bay, Canada. She lives and works in Robinson-Huron Treaty territory on the traditional lands of the Anishnaabeg People, specifically, Nipissing First Nation. Rosemary has researched and published on transitional justice in South Africa, Rwanda and Canada. Her last project was on Indian Residential Schools and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. She continues to work on Indigenous-settler relationships, including through her current role as Co-Director of the Northeastern Ontario Research Alliance on Human Trafficking. Rosemary has published in the International Journal of Transitional Justice, Human Rights Review, Third World Quarterly, and guest co-edited a special section on residential schools in the Canadian Journal of Law and Society.