#NotInMyCity

#NotInMyCity

Aviation students engage in an eyeopening session on human trafficking.

Fanshawe’s Norton Wolf School of Aviation and Aerospace Technology is helping tackle one of the fastest growing crimes in Canada by taking steps to train future flight attendants and pilots to recognize human trafficking activity.

Education is the key to prevention.

“When flights started back up following the COVID-19 lockdowns, there were lots of cases of people going missing,” says Haley Whitelaw, professor and coordinator of the Flight Services program.

Haley invited Elyssa Rose, executive director of the Strathroy-based Women’s Rural Resource Centre and alumna of Fanshawe’s Social Service Worker program, to facilitate awareness sessions to students in the Flight Services and Commercial Flight and Aviation Leadership programs.

A human trafficking knowledge carrier, Elyssa has been working with survivors of human trafficking for over six years. She says it’s important to find time and space to engage students about what is a community-wide issue and applauds Haley for incorporating it into the curriculum.

“Education is the key to prevention,” she says. “These workshops are extremely important. They can be lifesaving.”

Elyssa’s sessions lay the groundwork for students to complete a #NotInMyCity certification, which formally equips them to recognize the signs of a passenger who may be at risk of being trafficked and how to report a suspected trafficking situation.

#NotInMyCity, a Calgary-based organization founded by country singer Paul Brandt, raises awareness and takes collective action to prevent, disrupt and end exploitation and trafficking, focusing on children and youth.

This wasn’t Elyssa’s first time presenting to Fanshawe students. She had previously spoken to students in Haley’s Tourism and Hospitality Management class before they began their placements in hotels and motels across the region.

“It’s crucial to have this training in our programs to lay the groundwork for when they begin their careers,” says Haley.