Jan 19 – Susan Tiefenbrun, Ph.D. Speaks About Trafficking
Tuesday, January 19th, 5:30 PM – Kings Inn, Mission Valley
Soroptimist International of San Diego invites you to attend a very special program meeting on January 19th. The speaker will be Susan Tiefenbrun, Ph.D., Professor, Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Professor Tiefenbrun has been writing and speaking about sex slavery and human trafficking for many years. Her expertise is recognized by human rights organizations throughout the world. This program is presented as part of Soroptimist International of the America’s STOP Sex Trafficking campaign and January 11th – National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
Millions of women and girls worldwide are currently living as slaves. Most often forced into sex work, these women are terrorized and tortured by their captors until they lose all will to resist. Women living in sexual slavery are often victims of international trafficking and as such they face the additional obstacles of language barriers, foreign criminal justice systems and threats to their family by international criminal organizations. Despite the obvious damage slavery inflicts upon its victims, the demand for slaves—particularly female sex slaves—continues to thrive. Trafficking remains one of the top three revenue earners for international crime. Traffickers frequently face few (if any) penalties for their crimes. Consider the following statistics:
- Human rights groups estimate that anywhere from 12.3 to 27 million people are currently living as slaves.
- The UN estimates the total market value of exploitation of humans to be $32 billion, and about $10 billion from the initial sale of individuals.
- Each year, between 800,000 and 900,000 people are trafficked across international borders.
- 75 percent of those trafficked are trafficked into the commercial sex industry.
- 80 percent of trafficking victims are women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation.
Because slavery and trafficking happens in every country in the world, every Soroptimist has an obligation to raise awareness of modern-day slavery, rescue slaves, and join in the fight to increase the prosecution of traffickers and slave-owners.
To make a reservation, please contact Cathy Hopper by noon on Friday, January 15th at 858-560-7177 or cathy_hopper@att.net.
