Social Media Campaigns

Many service providers across Canada report that they lack the knowledge and training necessary to identify and effectively respond to sex trafficked persons. As one step in addressing this gap, the ASTER team and Ontario Network of Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres partnered to create a multi-week social media campaign highlighting practical strategies to better respond to sex trafficked persons. 

Our campaign, #CareThatEmpowersSupportsThatRestore, which targeted healthcare, social service, and community providers, ran from May 11 to June 29, 2026. It was reviewed and approved by an advisory group with lived and professional experiences related to sex trafficking. 

The Ontario Network of Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres’ Instagram was the primary social media platform leveraged because of its high engagement and capacity for targeted outreach. Below, the graphics are organized by release date and topic, each linked to their corresponding post. The campaign was also shared on the Ontario Network of Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres’ LinkedIn and by members of the ASTER Network on their social media accounts.  

#CareThatEmpowersSupportsThatRestore 

Citation
Kwan, S., Rogers, C., Bruder, R., MacNeill, S., Macdonald, S., & Du Mont, J. (2026, May-June). #CareThatEmpowersSupportsThatRestore: A social media campaign highlighting practical strategies to better respond to sex trafficked persons. ASTER, Women’s College Research and Innovation Institute, Women’s College Hospital and the Ontario Network of Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Treatment Centres.
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Recognizing the opportunity to mark National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in Canada (February 22, 2023), the ASTER team and Women’s College Hospital’s strategic communications partnered to create a multi-week social media campaign spotlighting both the issue of sex trafficking in Canada and some of the research insights from our study of social service providers’ perspectives on caring for and supporting survivors of sex trafficking.

Our campaign, #AddressingSexTrafficking, ran from February 22 to March 17, 2023. Twitter was the primary social media platform leveraged, as it is widely used by members of the healthcare and social service sectors – the target demographic group for the campaign. Below the graphics are organized by release date on Twitter. The campaign was also shared on Women’s College Hospital’s LinkedIn and Instagram accounts.

#AddressingSexTrafficking

Image of a man climbing up a ladder towards the sky. A hand reaching out from the right side of the image is taking out or inserting a piece of the ladder. There is a purple box with white text on the upper left of the image that reads, “Barriers and
The background image is of a group of women looking up. There is a purple box on the left of the image with white text and double quotation marks. A blue line sits near the bottom of the purple box and extends to the middle of the image. The white te
The background image is of a group of women looking up. There is a purple box on the left of the image with white text and double quotation marks. A blue line sits near the bottom of the purple box and extends to the middle of the image. The white te
The background image is of a group of women looking up. There is a purple box on the left of the image with white text and double quotation marks. A blue line sits near the bottom of the purple box and extends to the middle of the image. The white te
The background image is of a group of women looking up. There is a purple box on the left of the image with white text and double quotation marks. A blue line sits near the bottom of the purple box and extends to the middle of the image. The white te
The background image is of a group of women looking up. There is a purple box on the left of the image with white text and double quotation marks. A blue line sits near the bottom of the purple box and extends to the middle of the image. The white te
The background image is of a group of women looking up. There is a purple box on the left of the image with white text and double quotation marks. A blue line sits near the bottom of the purple box and extends to the middle of the image. The white te
The background image is of a group of women looking up. There is a purple box on the left of the image with white text and double quotation marks. A blue line sits near the bottom of the purple box and extends to the middle of the image. The white te
The background image is of a group of women looking up. There is a purple box on the left of the image with white text and double quotation marks. A blue line sits near the bottom of the purple box and extends to the middle of the image. The white te
The background image is of a group of women looking up. There is a purple box on the left of the image with white text and double quotation marks. A blue line sits near the bottom of the purple box and extends to the middle of the image. The white te

Cite as: Montemurro, F., Ellington, B., Jacobson, D., Benadiba, J., Mason, R., & Du Mont, J. (February-March, 2023). Barriers and facilitators to caring for domestically sex trafficked persons in Canada: A social media awareness-raising campaign. ASTER, Women’s College Research Institute, Women’s College Hospital.