SPOKANE, Wash. A full-day conference entitled “Stopping Slavery in the 21st Century: Searching for a Faith-Based Response to the Trafficking of Human Beings” is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Whitworth Presbyterian Church, 312 W. Hawthorne Rd., Spokane.
The program is one in a series of specialized training programs organized by the Western Regional Institute for Community Oriented Public Safety (WRICOPS), associated with WSU Extension at Washington State University Spokane. Assisting in organizing the event are Faith Partners Working Against Domestic Violence and YWCA Alternatives to Domestic Violence.
This particular conference is aimed at identifying roles for members of the faith community in helping respond to the needs of victims of human trafficking. There is no fee for registration and it is open to any interested person.
According to organizers, the conference brings together people from many disciplines who share common core values – dignity of human life, compassion, hospitality, peace and life in its abundance – with a challenge to the faith community for its response to the crime of human trafficking.
A panel of Whitworth College students studying under Professor John Yoder will discuss real-world strategies for lay-persons to combat the trafficking of human beings and facilitators from WRICOPS will present a multi-media presentation on the indicators of human trafficking.
Keynote speaker Reverend Thelma Burgonio-Watson, assistant director of the Faith Trust Institute in Seattle, Washington, will address the problem of human trafficking and outline the response of the faith community from a theological perspective.
The conference program will include a presentation by Lila Lama Ghising of the Faith Trust Institute who will share a personal account of how a nonprofit organization in Nepal responded and continues to respond to protect women and girls in the community.
Reverend Kevin Frederick, associate pastor of Black Mountain Presbyterian Church in Black Mountain, NC is also a featured presenter who will lead an evening discussion and dessert on the Whitworth College Campus at the Robinson Teaching Theatre in Weyerhaeuser Hall from 7- 9:30 p.m. Frederick is a leader among Presbyterian clergy in organizing congregations to resist violence in our culture, particularly violence against women. He has led a number of missions to Central America to train Guatemalan pastors in these strategies.
Refreshments and lunch are provided. To register please go to the WRICOPS website at www.wricops.org, or call (509) 358-7949.
About Human Trafficking
Human trafficking is a form of modern day slavery which imprisons more than 2 million people worldwide. The trafficking of human beings for profit in the sex industry or labor camps through force and coercion is not confined to Southeast Asia or Africa, as the popular understanding may have it. It is estimated that more than 50,000 people are trafficked in the United States each year.
Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000 and the abolition of human trafficking is a priority for the U.S. Department of Justice. More than 3,000 cases were investigated in 2005 alone, resulting in more than 1,200 indictments. 1,000 victims have been assisted in recent years and more than 30 federally funded task forces are now in existence to enforce the protection of law.
One such working group is located in the Seattle area. An article in the May 10, 2004 Seattle PI labeled Seattle as a “Hot Spot” for human cargo. The article went on to say, “Washington State’s Basic Law Enforcement Academy does not include any information about trafficking, and a number of local police departments say they don’t have the time and resources to set up special trafficking training.”
About WRICOPS Specialized Training Series
To help increase the awareness of human trafficking among state, tribal and local law enforcement offices, human service workers and first responders of all disciplines, the U.S. Department of Justice COPS Office and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have initiated the delivery of a series of specialized training programs. In Washington State, the Western Regional Institute for Community Oriented Public Safety (WRICOPS), associated with WSU Extension at WSU Spokane, and the Washington Anti-Trafficking Resistance Network (WARN) have formed a partnership to deliver this training.
