This mural was completed alongside the Montreal Mural Festival and raises awareness of sex trafficking and forced sexual exploitation.
Local community activist Heidi Yane and her daughter Megan Yane came up with the idea for the mural. It was created as part of the organisation About The Way Out, which was founded in 2013 and offers lodgings and support to survivors of sex trafficking.
The piece contains the handprints of many people who are involved in human rights issues, including Alwyn Morris and Kakaionstha Deer, as well as a survivor of the Cambodian 'killing fields'. The phoenix is a symbol for rebirth after death and represents spirituality, direction, protection and awareness. It sends a message that the rights of a survivor of human trafficking are just as important as anyone else's rights.
