History

In 2004, two years after the World March of Women and the signing of the Palermo Protocol, a group of determined individuals, including members of several religious communities, met to discuss the issue during a participatory theatre performance. At that time, no group existed in Canada dedicated to combating human trafficking. They decided to form an action committee: drawing on their diverse expertise and skills, and in consultation with the community, they would observe, analyze, and take action.

More than 25 years later, CATHII works in partnership with a vast network of organizations in Quebec, Canada, and around the world. It continues to listen and bring people together around the ever-evolving issues of human trafficking.

Some key events

2003-2004

Along with several organizations, religious communities share their expertise at the PARMINOU theatre. The play LOST IN TRAFFIC was created. It toured Quebec and Canada, and performances took place abroad. In 2004, eight religious communities, also members of UNANIMA International, founded the Action Committee Against Internal and International Human Trafficking (CATHII) with researchers and other civil society actors. Sessions were led by Céline Dubé, Lise Gagnon, Francine Cabana, and Jean Bellefeuille.

2008

Religious communities share their expertise with several organizations.
PARMINOU Theatre. The play LOST IN TRAFFIC is created. It has toured Quebec and Canada, and performances have taken place abroad. In 2004, eight religious communities, also members of UNANIMA International, founded the Action Committee Against Internal and International Human Trafficking (CATHII) with researchers and other civil society actors. Sessions are given by Céline Dubé, Lise Gagnon, Francine Cabana, and Jean Bellefeuille.

2009

CATHII becomes a member of Talitha Kum, a newly founded network of nuns against trafficking, and has a representative on the coordinating committee, Sister Nicole Rivard.
The first CATHII Info is launched. This awareness and information tool has been published regularly ever since.

2013

After years of consultations by CATHII
with civil society actors, the Quebec Coalition
against human trafficking is founded during a
a symposium bringing together around a hundred people in April at
Montreal.

2016

Campaign against sexual exploitation. Several organizations
They are mobilizing for the awareness campaign aimed at combating sexual exploitation during the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Montreal. CATHII is a signatory of the press release.

2011, 2018, 2023

CATHII participates in Canada's Universal Periodic Review through written submissions. In April 2018, Jill Hanley was CATHII's delegate to the United Nations in Geneva to present CATHII's recommendations on human trafficking. Furthermore, a few months earlier, CATHII had submitted its report to several Canadian embassies in Ottawa.

2021

The CATHII University at the UN project is taking off, aiming to provide training on human trafficking and participate in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Between 2021 and 2024, 59 students from five different universities (McGill, Laval, UdeM, UQAM, Concordia) across a dozen faculties (medicine, journalism, social work, criminology, law, public affairs, psychology, international relations, police security, public administration, international studies, anthropology, and political science), at the bachelor's and master's levels, participated. The 2024-2025 academic year will mark the fifth cohort of students.

2021

Campaign for a provincial plan to combat human trafficking. In the summer of 2021, CATHII launched a campaign calling on the Quebec government to implement a provincial plan to combat human trafficking. More than 1,000 signatures were submitted, and AQOCI included this campaign in its 12 Days of Action Against Violence Against Women. This campaign has been repeated regularly since then, and the initial request was made as early as 2014.

2023

The Youth Ambassadors bring together young people to take action against human trafficking. The first Canadian group was created under the leadership of Isabelle Couillard.

2024

At the initiative of CATHII, various groups are coordinating to invite the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery to a meeting in Montreal on September 2, 2024.

2024

CATHII is actively participating in the second Talitha Kum Assembly, as it did in 2018 at the first Assembly of this international network of nuns against human trafficking. For several years, CATHII has also actively participated in the Day of Prayer against Human Trafficking, held on February 8th.
Two young ambassadors participated in the youth meeting during this week in February in Rome. Isabelle Couillard gave an interview to a Canadian media outlet in Rome in May 2024.

2024

CATHII is conducting a joint campaign regarding closed work permits with members of Talitha Kum North and West Africa. A webinar reached over 75 people in Africa, and more than 200 signatures were collected at various meetings held by our African partners. A radio broadcast reached regions of Burkina Faso. Hundreds of signatures were also collected by CATHII members.

2024

On April 27, the feature film Richelieu was screened at the Centre Patro Villeray. Organized by CATHII and the Talitha Kum Youth Ambassadors, the event brought together 38 people, including director Pier-Philippe Chevigny. The film Richelieu immersed viewers in a little-known reality: the precarious working conditions of migrant workers in Quebec's agricultural sector.

2024

In Montreal, the Young Ambassadors group held two public events, called "Let's Act Together," to raise awareness about human trafficking.,
particularly that concerning temporary foreign workers.

2024

CATHII was present at the meeting held in June 2024 by CAP International in Montreal. A workshop was co-facilitated by Kavitha Culasingam and Élodie Ekobena of CATHII. In July, CATHII invited its members to urge the United Nations and Canada to support the report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, which clearly states that prostitution is «linked to different forms of violence against women and girls and [constitutes] a form of violence in itself.».