Brenda Lochhead doesn’t particularly like the spotlight to be on her, however we’re sharing a bit of her work and advocacy today to celebrate what she has brought to the field of victim support, advocacy, and education about human trafficking and sexual exploitation with a focus on youth.
Brenda has been working in anti-violence for more than 30 years. All this dedication, her expertise, shows. It’s clear to the youth she works with, enabling her to build the foundational trusting relationships for the support she provides. She is devoted to advocating for survivors and their autonomy and she’s sharing what she’s learned to model her approach for other support workers, members of the legal community, police, educators, journalists, and whoever else might come into contact with exploited youth so that they can really show up for them. One of the most vital things Brenda’s education work focuses on is emphasizing the difference it for youth makes when people are able to give them care and support without taking away or restricting their power in decision making – it’s essential.
Not only is this important for building rapport, it’s also a key component to creating a safe space for youth to really start to define themselves. Brenda’s approach, summarized, is this: Identify, don’t define. If we want to do this work with a trauma-informed approach then we don’t define their needs, we don’t define their trauma, and we don’t define their next steps. Support must include space for youth to make their own decisions, whether or not you agree with them. This is particularly important when working with someone who already hasn’t had a say in what’s happening to them. This is how you create a space that’s safe enough for the youth to have open conversations.
Brenda has been a frontline support worker and now she’s shifting her focus to working fulltime as an advocate, an educator, and a consultant. She consults on cases with social workers and other community partners who support youth across Canada, with cases in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia. She’s even helped Crown Council write pieces on educating a judge and other members of the judicial system. She’s provided international supports for youth who have been exploited over the internet, with youth from the US and taking a collaborative approach with ICE and Homeland Security.
Over her career, Brenda has been recognized again and again for her unique, powerful approach to support work. In 2018, she received the Services to Victims, Community, Safety & Crime Prevention award from the BC Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General. Her expertise in the area of human trafficking has been recognized internationally, with presentations to police from Germany and creating a training video for Panamanian prosecution with the Justice and Education Society. Brenda was instrumental in the development and implementation of a collaborative framework for supporting victims of human trafficking in BC.
Brenda’s work has and continues to set a national standard of understanding how to approach human trafficking and exploitation cases. Building trust with victims and survivors is a core tenet to her success, with outcomes that expand opportunity for those she supports to self-define their next steps. Her model relies on deep work with victims from a truly client-centered, trauma-informed approach. It also centers the victim’s experience and provides the long-term support that decreases the likelihood of future exploitation. Although not at the forefront of her work, it’s worth noting that this approach for collaborative working models within the criminal justice system has proven to lead to charges laid and higher rates of conviction. More importantly, it allows survivors to participate at a level that is less revictimizing.
When she’s running her interactive training sessions, she brings stats, case studies and scenarios based on real-life examples, and a practical and engaging tone. She’s upfront and plain about the difficult nature of the work, she’s clear that survivors don’t often receive the support they need and deserve, and she’s direct on actionable ways attendees can help change that. Brenda runs her workshops with deep respect for her audience, knowing that they have their own wisdom to share and is willing to both challenge and be challenged. Working in sexual exploitation and human trafficking is tough, and she meets that by challenging the systems and encouraging others to be strong in their voices while supporting and advocating alongside her.
If you’re interested in coordinating a training session or presentation, or receiving consulting from Brenda, get in touch at: [email protected]