The Joy Smith Foundation believes that education is the greatest weapon against human trafficking.
"We've grown all across Canada," says Joy Smith. "We had a 'See the Signs' initiative all across Canada and it's had 300 million hits, producing a lot of survivors. They contacted us because we have offices in many cities across Canada. They were and continue to be effective."
Smith continues to share that human trafficking is happening less than one kilometre from where a person is anywhere in Canada, rather than just a problem across the sea.
"It's happening every day all across Canada. Traffickers move their victims from Manitoba into other provinces as well as across the border."
The Joy Smith Foundation relies on partners to help in this work of rescuing people from being trafficked, including the police and RCMP officers.
"At a recent conference in Winnipeg, one young cop came up to me, from Kenora, and said 'You helped my mom, she knows you, and now I'm in charge of the human trafficking unit in Kenora.'"
For anyone who wants to learn more, including how to proactively protect children from being trafficked, they can find details on the Joy Smith Foundation website.