Human Trafficking Panel: The Courage to Speak Up

Connie Portis
Connie Portis Enterprises
625 Stanwix St, #2206
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
caportis@hotmail.com
412.400.8809

 
Pictured:  Diane Richard and Jaime Evanoski-Turek

 

 

    

Pittsburgh, PA (PittsburghNewsWire.com) —  On September 7, 2011, from 7:30-9:30AM the Greater Pittsburgh Business and Professional Women Association will present the third installment of their breakfast series on women and domestic violence. This discussion, Human Trafficking: The courage to speak up will examine the sexual exploitation of women and young girls.

  

Panelists include Moderator – Diane Richard, Public Information Officer and Spokeswoman Pittsburgh Bureau of Police; Jaime Evanoski-Turek, M.I.D.  M.I.D., Assistant Director,  Project to End Human Trafficking in Pittsburgh. Dedicated to the fight or human rights and global justice for young women; Soo C. Song, First Assistant U.S. Attorney , Department of Justice Western District of  Pennsylvania, Criminal Division – Civil Rights and Exploitation Section, and; Yinka Aganga-Williams, Ph.D.,  Executive Director Acculturation for Justice, Access and Peace (AJAPO).

 

Female victims are entering the commercial sex industry at younger and younger ages to bring money into families, gangs and to individuals who steal, buy and sell them for a hefty profit. Vanity Fair magazine estimates 300,000 young American girls are entering the commercial sex trade at this time.  The recent case of Jaycee Dugard who was kidnapped as a child and kept as a sex slave in a back yard compound for eighteen years is an example and the case of the FLDS leader, Warren Jeffs, is another example. Many more instances go unnoticed and women and children remain the target.

 

The event is $35 and combines breakfast, speaker presentation and panel discussion. Participants will learn: What Human Trafficking is, How to recognize the signs and how to help victims speak up For more information contact, Sue Roselle, BPW President at (412) 889-2401.