OLDS — As part of its lent parish mission, St. Stephen’s Catholic Church is hosting two evenings of empowerment on two very important topics: domestic violence and human trafficking.
The first, on domestic violence, will be held March 12. Mass will be held at 6 p.m. Then at 7 p.m., Joe Carignan of the Mountain View Emergency Shelter Society (MVESS) and a retired RCMP officer, will speak about domestic violence.
The following night, March 13, a prayer service which will be held at 6:30 p.m.
Then Sundre-area resident Naomi Holland, who runs a website concerned about human trafficking called Redeemed With A Purpose, will speak at 7 p.m.
Sandra Boutwell, a spokesperson for the parish mission organizing committee which is a subcommittee of the local Catholic Women’s League, says the idea for these two topics was born when the committee decided to have a social justice theme to its activities this year.
“I guess we wanted to have something that was connected to the local community that is as well has a worldwide concern,” she said, noting some members of the committee had seen The Sound of Freedom, a movie about human trafficking.
“That had had kind of like opened our eyes to the concern of human trafficking and how most people don't recognize the degree of harm that is out there with it,” she said.
Another goal was for the committee to do what it can to raise awareness and funds for the drive to create an emergency shelter in Olds.
After many years of fundraising, construction of that shelter is expected to begin this spring on land provided by the Town of Olds at the intersection of 50th Avenue and 54th Street.
Boutwell noted the name for that shelter is Kirsten’s Place, named after a Bowden woman who was killed in what is believed to be a case of domestic violence.
“I had recently recognized that I knew the girl, Kirsten, that the emergency shelter is going to be named after and so that kind of hit home too, when all of a sudden it becomes personal in a in a way,” she said.
Boutwell said too many people don’t understand how easily human trafficking can occur, and because they’re so busy with day-to-day life those concerns get pushed aside “until it hits home personally.”
“Unfortunately, if it happens to be your own child that gets entrapped into human trafficking through pornography or whatever, then you're left with double ‘what ifs’ or ‘I could have,’ or things like that,” Boutwell said.
Boutwell said if these two events prove successful, the committee might organize similar talks on an annual basis.
Carignan told the Albertan that domestic violence is far more pervasive in the Mountain View County area than residents may think.
According to 2023 statistics, MVESS employees dealt with 202 clients.
“Our stats have climbed steadily over the last four years,” Carignan wrote in an email.
Carignan said a lot of Mountain View County-area residents “don't understand or aren't aware” how much domestic violence occurs in the area.
“We're trying to get the awareness out there so people know a that it's happening,” he said.
Carignan said for example, not long ago, an incident occurred in which a suspect killed a woman, then killed himself.
According to the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters, the number of people throughout the province who have stayed in a shelter after fleeing abuse rose 19 per cent compared over the previous year.
At the same time, the number of shelter requests that had to be denied due to lack of space shot up 32 per cent.
In an email, Holland indicated that area residents also have no idea of how horrific the human trafficking trade is and how easily their own children or other relatives can be ensnared in it.
“I worked 18 years with victims of human trafficking in Calgary and in Nepal,” she wrote.
“I personally lived as a house mom in a recovery home for survivors of sex trafficking. In the two years I lived there, I lived with 42 women fleeing the sex trade.
“I saw first-hand what human traffickers (also called pimps) can and will do to ensure nothing gets in the way of their profit.
“One girl had two broken arms because she tried to hide a quarter from her pimp to call a cab. This was in the days it cost .25 to make a call.
“Now these same traffickers are online going after our children. We should all be concerned about human trafficking.”
Holland said human traffickers search for victims online and people – especially children -- are very vulnerable.
"Traffickers) are charming, manipulative, potentially young and often pose as boyfriends. Often victims do not know they will be trafficked until it is too late,” she wrote.
“Vulnerable can mean bored, spending hours online without accountability or an involved parent, wanting a boyfriend or not knowing the signs.
“Traffickers identify an unmet need. This can be emotional, physical, mental, financial, recognition, wanting more followers etc. and (they) pour into that need. This is called grooming.”
Holland quoted an FBI agent on the Save The Kids podcast.
"The most dangerous place for a child today is in their room, with the door closed on a smart device."
