Joy Smith, former parliamentarian and president of the Joy Smith Foundation, has dedicated many years to combat human trafficking. Now she has released a DVD to spread awareness about the issue in Canada.

The hour and a half long film features trafficking survivors, families of victims, policemen, and others from all across Canada. 

One fact Joy Smith wants to make clear is that this can happen to anyone, but that victims and their families often stayed silent about it. "This happens a lot in Christian families. In fact, on my DVD there's a very brave wonderful, wonderful Christian man. His name is Steve Bell. And so on the DVD he tells of his pain when he found out his twelve-year-old daughter was trafficked. And through his courage there are a lot of other parents who don't have to keep it secret anymore... and it happens in many Christian families, it's only Steve Bell who had the courage to talk about it. But I can say I know hundreds of them."

She wants to encourage those who may have been affected by human trafficking, "I can say that parents out there, and girls and boys who have been lured into this horrendous crime against them should not be ashamed. They should be bold. They should say nobody should ever have done this to me. It's squarely on the shoulders of the perpetrators."

Smith explained that this film is meant to educate everyone, from parents to teachers to kids, pastors, and anyone else. Although there will inevitably be sensitive material discussed, the DVD is not meant to be for adults only, but to be discussed by everyone to protect future cases happening to other vulnerable youth. 

 

Human Trafficking: Canada's Secret Shame DVD is now available. You can find more information at www.joysmithfoundation.com.

 

Canada’s Secret Shame Documentary Trailer from Joy Smith Foundation on Vimeo.