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| Human Trafficking Symposium
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"Modern Day Slavery in the Heartland"
Feb. 29
Open to social workers, nurses, and other professionals
March 1
Open to the public
De Mattias
Fine Arts Center
Newman University |
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The U.S. Region of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ (ASC), the founders of Newman University, are sponsoring a "Human Trafficking Symposium: Modern Day Slavery in the Heartland" Feb. 29 and March 1. The symposium is designed to educate people about human trafficking, the social injustice of modern day slavery and its victims. Social workers, nurses, and other professionals are invited to attend Friday, Feb. 29, to earn continuing education units (CEU) for a registration price of $60. The symposium offers 6.5 Social Work Contact Hours/CEUs and 6.9 continuing nursing education units for professional nurses. Other professionals may complete a form at the symposium and submit their CEUs for approval to their respective credentialing organizations. For more information about earning CEUs, contact Anita Yoakum at anita_yoakum@via-christi.org.
Saturday's symposium will be open to the public. General admittance is $20 for adults and $10 for students with ID. Newman faculty and students are admitted free.
Registration is required for all participants and has a deadline of Feb. 22. To register, print and mail a registration form here or contact Mary Schoenecker, ASC at 316-943-2984 or schoeneckerm@adorers.org. A box lunch will be provided for each registered participant. |
“Human trafficking is a travesty that is occurring all around our world as well as right here in Kansas,” said Sr. Rose Therese Bahr, member of the ASC symposium planning committee. “ We have put together an impressive group of speakers from across the nation, from Washington D.C., across the Midwest states, and from California to educate our community on this issue.”
The goal of the symposium is to present information that increases awareness about a major global problem currently inflicting injustices on men, women and children of all ages. Victims of human trafficking are indentured into slavery through forced labor, sexual abuse, and exploitation for profit by traffickers.
Information presented will explore the concept of human trafficking defined as modern day slavery from both a national and international perspective; identify root causes of human trafficking around the world; analyze the economics of human trafficking and its impact on human rights violations in Kansas and globally; examine issues related to survivors of human trafficking; and will evaluate the role of professionals, e.g., nurses, social workers, educators, law enforcement, and the general public in furthering the awareness of human trafficking in Kansas.
Maria Riley, OP, Ph.D., Senior Advisor to the Global Women’s Project for the Center for Concern in Washington, D.C., is traveling to Wichita to share her knowledge of the subject. Riley is a recognized public speaker and published author on women’s human rights. Her presentation is entitled, “Economics and the Impact on Human Trafficking.”
"Human trafficking, the modern form of slavery, affects over four million persons a year is the third largest illegal industry in the world following drugs and arms sales, and reaps a profit of seven to ten billion dollars yearly," said Dr. Riley. “I’ll be speaking on the global economic and social context of Human Trafficking at the symposium in February.”
Riley’s experience in women’s rights dates back to the 1985 and 1995 UN World Conferences on Women. She |
(Printable schedule)
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has assisted in founding several coalitions of women which work to bring women’s experience and women’s perspective to macro-economic issues. These coalitions include Alternative to Women in Development; Women’s Economic Alliance which worked to influence the economic agenda of the Beijing World Conference; and U.S. Women Connect, a U.S. initiative monitoring the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action.
Riley also organized a strategic planning seminar on gender and trade, which resulted in the International Gender and Trade Network being organized in eight regions: Africa, Asia, Central Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America, with an office in Geneva as well as the Secretariat in Rio de Janeiro. Today, the Network continues to grow as a political voice in the critique of the current model of trade liberalization/intensification. Riley also co-founded the Interfaith Working Group on Trade and Investment, a coalition of faith-based organizations in Washington, DC. This group monitors U.S. trade policy and advocates for more just international trade agreements.
Other presentations for the symposium include "Voices in the Wilderness – American Victims" by Kristy Childs, founder of Veronica’s Voice in Kansas City, Mo.; "Immigration Relief for Victims of Human Trafficking" by Kate Reid, ASC, Legal Advocacy, Immigration Law Project, Eastern Mo.; "Practical Issues of Survivorship: Boundaries and Barriers" by Sharon Becker, CSJ, MSN, RN, Advocate, Trafficked Women Victims; and "Collaborate to Liberate: the Experience of the St. Louis Human Trafficking Coalition" by Suzanne LeLaurin, LCSW, International Institute of St. Louis. To read the speaker's biographies, click here.
Speakers will also gather as a panel for a question and answer segment in the morning and afternoon. The afternoon will also consist of breakout sessions offering participants the opportunity to hear discussions about human trafficking in relation to health care, social services, business and economics, women's religious, legal and women issues, and general information.
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