TW: Discussion of sexual assault
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), an annual campaign to raise public awareness of sexual assault and educate communities about and individuals on how to prevent sexual violence. In honour of this, we would like to share a bit about Purge and the hidden victims of COVID-19.
The themes of Purge; human trafficking, violence against women, sexual abuse, generational trauma, and our will to survive are topics that are as prevalent in our society today as they were during WW2 and the 1990s.
The International Labor Organization estimates that there are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking globally. (CivicAction, Feb 20, 2020) Millions of women, children and men worldwide are out of work, out of school and without social support in the continuing COVID-19 crisis, leaving them at greater risk of human trafficking. (UN News, Feb 2, 2021) The pandemic has exacerbated the systemic and deeply entrenched economic and societal inequalities that are among the root causes of human trafficking. The share of children among trafficking victims tripled over the past 15 years, with girls mainly trafficked for sexual exploitation.
In an environment where priorities and actions are geared towards limiting the spread of the virus, it is easier for traffickers to hide their operations, making victims increasingly invisible, especially those in domestic servitude or sex slavery.
Trauma disorders are mental illnesses that are caused by traumatic experiences or significant stress. Generational trauma means that we can view the psychological effects of trauma being transferred from one generation to another. It is a traumatic event that began decades prior to the current generation and has impacted the way that individuals understand, cope with, and heal from trauma. Enslavement, genocide, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and extreme poverty are all common sources of suffering that lead to intergenerational trauma.
Although Purge takes place in Estonia, the issue is still prevalent in modern Canada: “This kind of national awareness is incredibly important because the majority of Canadians still don’t believe human trafficking is happening in this country,” said Rhonelle Bruder, founder and executive director of an anti-trafficking non-profit group. “Many people believe it’s a foreign issue happening somewhere else.” (Toronto Star, Feb 22, 2021).
Purge is a unique opportunity to re-engage the audience after 17 months without live theatre, and present theatre that is thought-provoking, interesting, and intensely human while addressing and discussing preponderant issues of our times that urgently need our immediate attention.
To learn more about resources available in our community, visit WaypointsWB.ca. Interested in supporting our production Purge? We are still accepting donations on our GoFundMe campaign.
Sources:
https://www.unodc.org/documents/Advocacy-Section/HTMSS_Thematic_Brief_on_COVID-19.pdf
https://civicaction.ca/news/canadians-unaware-of-warning-signs-of-sex-trafficking-new-survey/