ENC’s Human Trafficking Awareness Week runs from Feb. 23-28, with different events each day to educate the ENC community about the issue.
Director of Community Life Keri Lewis and Social Work professor Stephanie Flaherty organized an awareness week at ENC to shine a light on the issue of human trafficking.
Many people to do not realize how prevalent this issue is. Human trafficking has risen to become the second largest globally organized form of crime, with 167 countries and 27,000,000 victims, with the business generating $150.2 billion per year. Human Trafficking Awareness Week was organized to help share these statistics, explain the severity of the situation, and inspire students to act against it.
On Monday, Feb. 23, there will be a showing of Nefarious in the RCA at 6:30 p.m. This documentary by Benjamin Nolot exposes the growing trend of sex slavery. In a journey across four continents that contribute to the slave business, Nolot returns with information on modern day human trafficking. Along with tales of horror, he brings back redemptive stories, hoping to inspire others to join the movement against sex slavery.
Labor trafficking is another predominant form of modern-day slavery. Students will have the opportunity to learn how to differentiate which companies and products support “fair labor” on Tuesday, Feb. 24 during the Fair Trade Fair in the Student Center.
On Wednesday, Feb. 25, students can hear from some of their fellow classmates who took a week-long course in early January focused on human trafficking in Boston. This lecture-based event will take place in Canterbury Lecture Hall during Reach Out at 9 p.m.
On Friday, Feb. 27, a booth will be set up in the student center with educational materials about different forms of slavery. Materials will be provided by the End It Movement. End It is a coalition of the leading organizations in the world that contribute to the fight of freedom for various kinds of enslaved peoples. Their coalition partners work meticulously to bring awareness, prevention, rescue, and restoration to those who have suffered the injustice of human trafficking and other forms of slavery.
Human Trafficking Awareness Week comes to a close on Saturday, Feb. 28 with an all day Human Trafficking Awareness & Prevention Conference. During this conference, representatives from the Point Loma Nazarene University’s Center for Justice and Reconciliation will be covering the basics of what human trafficking is, what it looks like nationally and internationally, and what we can do to help in our campus community.