25 Mar Anti-human trafficking efforts by The Salvation Army in B.C.

The Salvation Army is the largest non-governmental provider of social services in Canada and has worked with exploited and trafficked individuals for more than 130 years. The Salvation Army is committed to fighting exploitation and human trafficking, championing rehabilitative care and awareness across the country by opening Deborah’s Gate in 2009, the first high security Canadian safe house and live-in program of its kind for survivors of human trafficking. We have continued to provide leadership in our field opening additional outreach based programs to support over a thousand survivors per year living in community, and in our programs.

National Live In Safe House & Rehabilitative Programs

Deborah’s Gate is a national, specialized program of care serving international and domestic women age 18 and up who have been trafficked into situations of sexual and/or labour exploitation, and are in need of protective and restorative housing and healing*. Deborah’s Gate is located in a confidential and secure location providing maximum security measures for those facing high level safety risks. Since inception, hundreds of survivors of human trafficking have accessed rehabilitation and healing through Deborah’s Gate. The program is named after Deborah, the first female, Hebrew judge in 1100 BC who, in a time of great oppression and violence against women and children, led the Hebrew people into a season of victory and peace. The word “gate” represents safety and passage into a new place, which our program aims to provide for victims of human trafficking. The impacts of trafficking on a human life is devastating, but Deborah’s Gate aims to change the script of the story. In 2014, we began expanding our rehabilitative programs to serve the varying needs of survivors across Canada. Please navigate to our Rehabilitation tab for more information on our varying national anti-human trafficking programs.

_{*sexually exploited children and youth may be considered in consultation with the BC Ministry of Children and Families}

To learn more about The Salvation Army’s anti-human trafficking effort, or to get help, click the following link:

https://www.deborahsgate.ca/