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Adult Forum, March 25

Human Trafficking—Trading in Sex and Labor
from Bangkok to Minneapolis
Ellen Kennedy

Human trafficking is modern-day slavery, a global phenomenon that uses the labor or services of another person in violation of an individual’s human rights. Human trafficking is one of the world’s fastest-growing criminal activities, second only to trafficking in drugs.

Up to 900,000 people are trafficked internationally each year, including 50,000 people trafficked into the United States and another 244,000 American children and youth who are trafficked within our own borders. Eighty percent of those who are trafficked are women, and half of all victims are children.

Minnesota has one of the highest proportions of trafficked people in the country. This program explores the reasons why Minnesota is a hub for sex and labor slavery and efforts that our state legislators and law enforcement officials are taking to combat the problem. We will consider critical victim needs for shelter, health care, legal services and rehabilitation.

The program concludes with steps that ordinary people can take to make a difference, including raising awareness, facilitating support for victims and advocating for legislation to prevent conditions giving rise to trafficking both locally and globally.

 

 

Ellen Kennedy speaks widely on the responsibility to protect innocent people from violence, hate and exploitation. She is the founder and executive director of World Without Genocide, an adjunct professor at William Mitchell College of Law, St. Paul, and a recent recipient of the Outstanding Citizen award from the Anne Frank Center.