Tara Teng (; born August 17, 1988), is a Canadian former pageant winner. She was crowned Miss Canada 2011 and also

Miss World Canada Miss World Canada is a national Beauty pageant in Canada held annually in different incarnations since 1957 to select representative to the Miss World contest. In 2017 MTC-W Inc. obtained the exclusive rights to send the Canadian representative t ...

2012. During her title reigns she was an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

for

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

and spoke about

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

Early life and education

Teng is the daughter of a Chinese Singaporean church pastor father and a European Canadian mother, and she was raised as a Christian. She was

homeschooled Homeschooling or home schooling (American English), also known as home education or elective home education (EHE) (British English), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted ...

until the age of 15. She received a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed. or BEd) is an undergraduate academic degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. A Bachelor of Education program typically lasts three to four years and combines both coursework and practical exp ...

from

Trinity Western University Trinity Western University (TWU) is a Private university, private Christian liberal arts university with campuses in both Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Langley and Richmond, British Columbia, Richmond, British Columbia. The ...

(TWU). Teng spent four months studying at TWU's Laurentian Leadership Centre (LLC) in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, participating in the Laurentian Leadership Program. While in Ottawa, she had a year-long internship with Joy Smith, Member of Parliament (MP) for Kildonan—St. Paul in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, who had been working to implement laws to reduce the demand for prostitution in Canada and on improving awareness about

Pageants

In 2010 Teng won the Miss BC World contest and the pageant's online People's Choice Award. In 2011, she was crowned Miss Canada. She won the

pageant in 2012, and represented Canada at the 2012 Miss World pageant, although she did not place as a finalist in the Beauty with a Purpose segment of the competition or as a top 30 quarter-finalist.

Activism

In Canada

Teng was inspired to begin working against human trafficking when, at age 16, she moved to suburban Vancouver and met a neighbour whose daughter had been lost to human trafficking when she was 14 and prostituted by the girl's then-boyfriend. In October 2010, Teng met with Canada's Prime Minister,

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

, to discuss human trafficking. In November 2011, Joy Smith and Bruce Stanton, Assistant Deputy Speaker of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, hosted a reception in Teng's honour, at which she gave a speech to Senators and MPs about human trafficking. Teng participated in "Buying Sex is Not a Sport", a campaign during the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

. After participating in Toronto's second annual Freedom Walk in March 2011, she organized the Freedom Week campaign in the

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

with Todd Hauptman. That August, she participated in the Ignite the Road to Justice Mission Tour, beginning in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. The tour continued across the country eastwards. Teng participated in an anti-human trafficking task force in her hometown of Langley, British Columbia, producing a report on measures the community could do to tackle it. In April 2012, Teng and Hauptman presented Langley Township with an "action plan" and asked the township to accept the plan's first two stages, dealing with prevention and education. Teng partnered with

World Vision International World Vision International is an interdenominational Christian humanitarian aid, development, and advocacy organization. It was founded in 1950 by Robert Pierce as a service organization to provide care for children in Korea. In 1975, emerge ...

to give speeches at events raising funds for

International Justice Mission International Justice Mission is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights and law enforcement. It was founded in 1997 by lawyer Gary Haugen in Washington, D.C. All IJM employees are required to be practicing Chris ...

, which rescues children from

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

In Asia

In June 2011, Teng visited towns and slums in Cambodia and Thailand where families had sold their daughters to sexual slavery. These included

Patpong Patpong (, , ) is an entertainment district in Bangkok's Bang Rak District, Thailand, catering mainly, though not exclusively, to foreign tourists and expatriates. Patpong is internationally known as a red light district at the heart of Bangkok's ...

, Thailand where she partnered with Rahab Ministries Thailand to spend time with female human trafficking survivors. In

Chiang Mai Chiang Mai, sometimes written as Chiengmai or Chiangmai, is the largest city in northern Thailand, the capital of Chiang Mai province and the List of municipalities in Thailand#Largest cities by urban population, second largest city in Thailan ...

, Thailand, Teng spoke to an audience of 40,000 people at the

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

Freedom Concert in support of

MTV EXIT The MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) campaign is a multimedia initiative produced by MTV EXIT Foundation (formerly known as the MTV Europe Foundation) to raise awareness and increase prevention of human trafficking and modern slavery. ...

, a campaign to end human trafficking and exploitation. The Cambodia trip was supported by the

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as lobby groups, interest groups, special interest groups, pressure groups, or public associations, use various forms of advocacy or lobbying to influence public opinion and ultimately public policy. They play an impor ...

Traffic Jam and World Orphans. In February 2012, Teng was a

keynote A keynote in public speaking is a talk that establishes a main underlying theme. In corporate or commercial settings, greater importance is attached to the delivery of a keynote speech or keynote address. The keynote establishes the framework fo ...

speaker at the Freedom and Honor Conference in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. Later in the year, she travelled to Sri Lanka. There, she visited World Vision's development programs in Thanamalvila Divisional Secretariat and

Bogawantalawa Bogawantalawa, also spelt Bogawanthalawa, is a small town in the Central province of Sri Lanka. It is at 1514 m elevation above sea level, about east of Colombo, famous for its tea estates. Most refer it to as Bogawantalawa - however the correct ...

to help fundraising efforts.

Post-pageant life

Teng currently works as a life and style blogger and is the B.C. director of the Joy Smith Foundation, an organization which serves to combat human trafficking and help survivors. She also works as a spiritual embodiment coach in Vancouver working within the 'Deconstructing Faith movement'. Her book, ''Your Body is a Revolution: Healing Our Relationships with Our Bodies, Each Other and the Earth'' was published in 2023.

Honours

In 2011, ''

Chatelaine Chatelaine may refer to: *Chatelaine (chain), a set of short chains on a belt worn by women and men for carrying keys, thimble and/or sewing kit, etc. * Chatelaine (horse), a racehorse * ''Chatelaine'' (magazine), an English-language Canadian wom ...

'' named her one of Canada's "Hot 20 Under 30" women. In 2012 she was one of 30 Langley residents to receive the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal () or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. There are four versions of the medal: one iss ...

. That same year the Joy Smith Foundation recognised her work in human rights by giving her its International Freedom Award, and she was added to the Catalyst Conference's Young Influencers List.

Personal life

Teng married husband Chris Yamauchi in May 2013. They had two children together. In November 2019, she announced that her marriage had ended and she had been living as a single mother for a full year. Since her divorce, Teng has

come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

. She left mainstream Christianity due to the scrutiny she faced as an Asian bisexual woman. In November 2021, she announced that she and her fiancé Anthony Lively are expecting a child in 2022.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Teng, Tara 1988 births Living people Canadian women human rights activists Canadian human rights activists Canadian women's rights activists Miss Canada winners Miss World Canada winners Miss World 2012 delegates Canadian beauty pageant winners Canadian beauty pageant contestants People from Langley, British Columbia (city) People from Powell River, British Columbia Trinity Western University alumni Canadian people of Chinese descent Canadian people of Singaporean descent 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people Canadian former Christians Canadian bisexual women