Bringing light to a dark reality-9/14/2011

LINK to: http://saccityexpress.com/2011/09/14/bringing-light-to-a-dark-reality

September 14, 2011
by Lisa Lao | Opinions Editor

City College’s first Human/Labor Trafficking forum, hosted by honor society Phi Kappa Theta, will take place Sept. 23 in the Cultural Awareness Center at noon.

English Professor and Honors club co-adviser Anna Joy said the purpose of the event is to educate students and the community as well as to discuss what can be done about the issue of human trafficking.

The United Nations Office of Drug & Crime (UNODC) calls, “Human trafficking is a crime against humanity. It involves an act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring or receiving a person through a use of force, coercion or other means, for the purpose of exploiting them, according to information posted on its website.”

According to the UNODC, “Every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers, in their own countries and abroad. Every
country in the world is affected by trafficking, whether as a country of origin,transit or destination for victims.”

Sociology Professor and Honors club co-adviser Nicholas Miller described human trafficking as a global economic and humanitarian concern.

“Consumers are often unaware of the forced labor and conditions by which their goods are produced, and we hope to bring more attention to this,” said Miller. “Ideally, people will walk away with a broad understanding of the issue, its complexity, current policy and possible solutions.”

Miller said he expects to moderate the Sept. 23 panel consisting of a law professor and representatives from the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, farm labor, two anti-trafficking organizations and a survivor of labor trafficking.

Joy described the event as a complicated concept and she will not be able to do any justice on human trafficking alone.

“That’s what the forum is for—is to have people here that are knowledgeable about that subject that can expand on it,” said Joy.

Richard Wellington, City College student and concept developer for Phi Theta Kappa, said the forum will distribute “information that helps in identifying the symptoms of the problem—and [will give] a better understanding and resemblance of the human trafficking problem—from the trafficked person, and the experts’ point of view.”

Wellington suggests that community members attend the forum with the desire to learn the different aspects of human trafficking and how to identify the issue.

“Your neighbor or the person you’ve recently befriended on the college campus or in the grocery line at the store may be sending out messages of help, and we need to recognize this cry to aid and assist whenever possible,” said Wellington.

To learn more about human/labor trafficking visit the UNODC website at www.unodc.org.