Jade Helena Brooks is an author and advocate known for her

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...

''The Teen Sex Trade: My Story''. Her activism work centres around helping sexually exploited youth and raising awareness.

Career

Following her exit from the sex industry in 2011, Brooks began working with an agency in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

to help other victims of the sexual exploitation. She helped to create The Stages of Sexual Exploitation, a tool to help identify if someone is being sexually exploited. Her first book, ''The Teen Sex Trade: My Story'', was published in September 2017. She self-published a follow-up book, ''Renegade: Teen Sex Trade Part Two''. In 2019, Brooks was featured at

Pictou County Pictou County is a county in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was established in 1835, and was formerly a part of Halifax County from 1759 to 1835. It had a population of 43,657 people in 2021, a decline of 0.2 percent from 2016. Further ...

's symposium on human trafficking. Brooks helped to develop a module of online program, Supporting Survivors of Sexual Violence: A

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

Resource, focussed on the exploitation of children and youth in 2021.

Books

* ''The Teen Sex Trade: My Story'' (2017) * ''Renegade: Teen Sex Trade Part Two'' (2021)

Personal life

Brooks has four siblings. She was born in Toronto and grew up in the Uniacke Square area of

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

. At age 11, she was placed into the Nova Scotia

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community or treatment centre), or private home of a state- certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent", or with a family mem ...

system. Brooks met the man who would become her boyfriend and, later, trafficker, at age 15. She was trafficked in both Toronto and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. Brooks was able to exit trafficking and the sex trade at age 19.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Jade 21st-century Canadian women writers Writers from Halifax, Nova Scotia Writers from Toronto Victims of underage prostitution Living people Canadian women activists Anti–human trafficking activists Black Nova Scotians Black Canadian non-fiction writers Black Canadian women writers Canadian women memoirists 21st-century Canadian memoirists 1992 births