Entrepreneur, speaker, realtor and human rights activist, Shae Invidiata is the founder and executive director of Free-Them, a not-for-profit anti-human trafficking organization established in 2010 to work towards ending human trafficking and exploitation in Canada. Free-Them works with all levels of government, law enforcement, business and front-line organizations, and is a stakeholder to three federal bills that have amended the Criminal Code in Canada. Free-Them is also an advisor to the federal National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, which launched in 2014.
In a recent TED talk, Shae laid out the stark facts of human trafficking. While we might think it happens in the shadows, it’s actually all around each of us, hidden in plain sight: in massage parlours, restaurants, nail salons, motels, hotels, even in condos and suburban homes. Human trafficking is the fastest growing crime on the planet today; the body is a renewable resource, since a slave can be “rented out” rather than sold one time like other commodities such as arms sales or drugs.
Perhaps as a personal respite from the emotional toll of her principal cause, Shae also recently launched Shae & Company, which helps empower clients to take back control of their health with pure essential oils, chemical-free beauty skincare, and cleaning products.
2019 Freedom Walk
About The Walk
The Free-Them Freedom Walk is an event to raise awareness and funds to end exploitation in Canada. Hundreds of people gathered in the morning to attend our honorary ceremony and then headed outside for a 3KM freedom walk to raise awareness to end exploitation in Canada. Attendees included civilians, law enforcement, politicians, and notable persons from across Canada.
Why Walk?
Most people think that human trafficking only happens in other countries around the world. But human trafficking is happening right here in our own backyards. 87% of victims rescued in Canada are Canadian AND the average age of entry into forced prostitution – sex slavery, is just 13 years old. These are kids, young children who need us to fight for them and need our support to get them out of this life of exploitation!
What Are We Raising Money For?
In 2019, all of the funds raised from the 7th Free-Them Freedom Walk went to support Aurora House in Toronto, a safe house that provides housing to Canadians, Canadian foreign nationals, immigrants, and refugees who have been trafficked and exploited in Canada. Aurora House is one of the only safe houses in Ontario that takes in and provides services for victims of human trafficking who are pregnant or that have given birth.
The Facts
- There are more than 30 million people in global slavery today.
- 87% of those trafficked in Canada are Canadians.
- The average age of entry into forced prostitution and exploitation in Canada is 13 years old.
- The two most prevalent forms of human trafficking in Canada are forced labor and forced prostitution.
- Globally human trafficking is a $150 billion dollar industry per year.
