ChickSpeak

By Kate Caughlan and Jennifer Kimball

In March 2007 Paige Hendrix and Jennifer Kimball, two students at the University of Missouri, came together to found an anti-human trafficking organization.

Human trafficking is the violent act of selling and transporting people – women, children, and men – for the purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation. Approximately 18,000 people are trafficked into the US each year.

The organization, Stop Traffic, will host the first annual Anti-Human Trafficking Conference at the University of Missouri on March 21-22, 2008. The student led summit on human trafficking will focus on how to be involved in efforts to combat trafficking in persons.
“[The conference] will feature speakers from a range of disciplines including research, law, victim advocacy, law enforcement, anti-human trafficking organizations and academia,” Said Paige Hendrix, co-founder and vice president of Stop Traffic.

“In addition, an American victim of human trafficking will be able to put trafficking into perspective for those who believe that it is not a problem in the United States,” she said.
In November, 2007, Stop Traffic hosted You Could Stop Traffic In These Clothes, a multimedia educational event. Fashion design students from two local universities designed lines specifically addressing various aspects of human trafficking. The show  was standing room only and raised more than $2,000 to help service and activism groups fight human trafficking and help victims.

 ”The goal of the conference is that people will get the tools necessary to fight human trafficking,” said Jennifer Kimball, co-founder and president of Stop Traffic.
“It’s a chance to take action against modern-day slavery and become empowered to end this atrocity,” she said. “We want to mobilize students from all over the country to take action.”

For more details or to register, visit http://www.stoptrafficnow.com/. 

Speakers include Andrea Powell, co-founder and executive director of Fair Fund; Theresa L. Flores LSW, M.S., a former human trafficking victim who was sexually exploited when she was only 15; and Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick, a scholar-activist working on issues of human trafficking, modern slavery and human rights. 
“Delegates at the conference will have the unique opportunity to meet and network with these incredible speakers as well as fellow delegates,” said Hendrix. “As a result, delegates will walk away more informed, motivated, and equipped with the tools necessary to combat human trafficking in their own communities.”
“We are proud to bring such an event to the University of Missouri-Columbia and will use this experience as a way to stop trafficking in the Midwest,” she said.

Photo credit: A scene from the mini-series “Human Trafficking”. Photo/Lifetime Channel