Direct Service & Mentorship
Ontario is a major centre for human trafficking in Canada, accounting for more than 2/3 of cases nationally. Of those, most are instances of sexual exploitation. Targeting vulnerable females, aged 14-25, predators pose as friends and boyfriends, often selling a dream of an exciting life, with promises of money and love. In reality, these girls live a horrific nightmare from which it is very difficult to escape.
Our work at BridgeNorth primarily focuses on serving women and girls who are caught in the sex industry. Our founder and director, Casandra Diamond, is a survivor of the sex industry and is able to draw on her personal experiences as well as formal training in victim services. In 2017, Casandra was provincially recognized as the Recipient of the Attorney General’s Victim Services Award of Distinction.
The participants of our program are all girls and women who are at various stages of exiting the sex industry. Many of them are still actively exploited and/or trafficked. Casandra is able to connect with them and provide assistance in breaking free of their exploiters, exiting the industry, and accessing the necessary resources for healing the emotional and physical trauma of being sexually exploited.
As of 2017, six women have completed the program, meaning that they have completely exited the sex industry and are now living healthy lives, working to support themselves and their families, and actively contributing to their communities.
Some of the other free services we provide to program participants include: counselling, mentorship & prevention training.