Library
This growing GAATW Library is filled with peer-reviewed and community-based knowledge, forming an evidence-based foundation for a labour rights response to human trafficking in Canada.
Decent work, forced labour, or everyday abuses—do definitions matter?
This webinar explores concepts such as decent work, forced labour, exploitation, and trafficking, examining their historical and political contexts and discussing when, why, and whether the use of precise definitions is important. Guest speakers shared how these terms apply in Canada and elsewhere.
GAATW Canada’s Victim Week 2026 webinar with Indigenous partners, Standing Together and Red Response
Jess (Red Response) and Prairie (Standing Together) discussed the incredibly important work they do to prevent and respond to violence, exploitation, and trafficking through culturally grounded approaches that fill the gaps created by mainstream approaches.
“Is it Trafficking?” Webinar Replay
The webinar features a discussion of key findings from GAATW Canada’s three-year research project “Is it Trafficking? Examining Gender-Based Violence Among Racialized and Migrant Women in Precarious, Informal, and Non-Standard Labour”, along with reflections from the research team and questions from participants.
“Is it Trafficking?” Research Report
Examining Gender-Based Violence Among Racialized and Migrant Women in Precarious, Informal, and Non-Standard Labour. From 2023-2026, GAATW Canada conducted a research project exploring experiences of women in domestic work, agriculture, hospitality, and sex work across Canada.
What If We Channeled the Outrage?
The past few weeks have been deeply disturbing as revelations related to the Epstein files continue to surface. Calling this period “difficult” hardly captures the extent of what many are feeling. Let’s begin by acknowledging the emotions many people are experiencing:…
GAATW Canada’s 2026 Statement on National Human Trafficking Awareness Day
February 22 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. This year, public attention to human trafficking is especially intense, driven by the release of the Epstein files. The Epstein case makes it painfully clear that despite years of efforts to combat trafficking,…
Shared Struggles, Collective Action: Bridging Movements for Change
Human trafficking is a complex issue. To effectively address it and reduce the harms associated with the rescue industry, we need to develop new approaches for connecting, coordinating, and differentiating responses across sectors and regions. A key part of GAATW…
GAATW Canada’s 2025 Statement for International Migrants Day
On December 18th, we mark International Migrants Day. Today and everyday, GAATW Canada calls for solidarity with all migrants living and working in Canada. In the last year, there has been yet more xenophobia, racism, and discrimination toward migrants in Canada,…
GAATW Canada’s 2025 Statement for International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers
On December 17th, GAATW Canada observes the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. Regrettably, since our statement last year, not much has changed. Sex workers are still criminalized in Canada. Still subject to vast misinformation that facilitates…
Rethinking Engagement and Storytelling in Anti-Trafficking Work
This webinar featured three survivors of human trafficking who shared their perspectives on anti-trafficking work and ethical engagement of survivors. The focus was on their analysis of anti-trafficking efforts, not on their personal stories or trauma.
Why Canada Must Chart Its Own Course on Human Trafficking
February 22 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Canada. The day offers an opportunity for us to educate ourselves and others about the realities of human trafficking and to advocate for effective solutions. This year, the Global Alliance Against Traffic in…
FIFA 2026 and the Increase in Trafficking in Canada: The Recurring Claim Likely to Gain Momentum in 2025
The claim that large sporting events lead to an increase in human trafficking for sexual exploitation originated ahead of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games—the first major sporting event after the adoption of the UN Trafficking Protocol. Repeatedly disproven, it keeps…
Rights Not Reductions: GAATW Canada Statement on International Migrants Day
Today, on International Migrants Day, December 18th, the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) Canada expresses its solidarity with all migrants living in Canada and calls for humane, rights-affirming immigration policies. Migrants are our friends,…
GAATW Canada Observes International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers
December 17th marks the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. It’s a time to remember and mourn the lives lost to violence, demand an end to hate crimes, and raise awareness about how criminalization and stigma contribute to the ongoing violence faced…
GAATW Canada Members Join GAATW International Congress
GAATW Canada members attended GAATW’s International Members Congress and Conference in Bangkok from October 15-18 to celebrate the Alliance’s 30th anniversary. The event offered GAATW and its international members opportunities to reflect on their work, review…
National Human Trafficking Awareness Day: Move beyond awareness raising and towards systemic solutions
February 22 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Canada. Once again, an alarm will sound that human trafficking is a national crisis of epidemic proportions. Awareness will be raised about the signs of trafficking and how to identify victims. But is human…
Dispelling the Misconception of Increased Sex Trafficking at Major Sporting Events
Football fans are getting ready for the Super Bowl on February 11th in Las Vegas, while the media and some anti-trafficking non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are fueling fear about an increase in sex trafficking in the host city. As one NGO ominously told local…
An invitation to collaborate and reintroduction to GAATW Canada
The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) Canada was formed in 1996 to address human trafficking through a migrant rights and labour rights approach. Over the years, we’ve worked with women’s, 2SLGBTQAI+, sex worker rights, and labour organizations locally,…
UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery – Canada visit
In May 2023, GAATW Canada responded to the call for input on the country visit to Canada of the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery. GAATW Canada’s brief highlighted several labour issues and government legislation and policy that warrant the…
House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women’s (FEWO) study on Human Trafficking of Women, Girls, and Gender-diverse People in Canada
In May 2023, GAATW Canada submitted a brief to the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women’s (FEWO) study on Human Trafficking of Women, Girls, and Gender-diverse People in Canada. GAATW Canada provided a response to the Committee’s purpose and made…
Anti-Trafficking Review: Special Issue – Sex Work
Over the past two decades, there has been a growing body of excellent academic and community-based literature on sex workers’ lives, work, and organising efforts, and on the harmful effects of anti-trafficking discourses, laws, and policies on diverse sex worker…
Sex Workers Organising for Change: Self-representation, community mobilisation and working conditions
The Sex Workers Organising for Change: Self-representation, community mobilisation and working conditions report is based on research conducted with sex worker organisations in seven countries: Canada, Mexico, Spain, South Africa, India, Thailand and New Zealand. It…
2010 Winter Games Analysis on Human Trafficking
In 2010, GAATW Canada researchers conducted a qualitative research project, funded by Public Safety Canada, on possible increases in transnational and domestic human trafficking in British Columbia in connection with the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games….
Transnational Migration, Trafficking in Women, and Human Rights: The Canadian Dimension
GAATW Canada undertook a collaborative research project and, in 2002, published a compilation of knowledge on migrant women and human trafficking in the Canadian context. The report explores several areas, including: global and national policies on ‘trafficking in…
Echoes: Cries for Freedom, Justice and Equality. Filipino Women Speak
“Echoes: Cries for Freedom, Justice and Equality. Filipino Women Speak.”, was an initial step toward research and documentation of the situation of Filipino women living in abusive and exploitative conditions in a small town in British Columbia. Their lives as…
Whores, Maids & Wives: Making Links
In 1997, GAATW Canada hosted the North American Regional Consultative Forum on Trafficking in Women, the first consultation of its kind held in Canada. The forum was designed to: initiate dialogue on trafficking and migration, facilitate an exchange of information and…
Practical Guide to Assisting Trafficked Women with Special Reference to Canada
GAATW’s first effort to support groups working at the grassroots level. This handbook contains information gathered from governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and legal and health experts. Written in a clear and simple style, this manual…