CSU Hosts Human Trafficking Symposium

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Colorado State University will hold Northern Colorado’s first annual Human Trafficking Symposium at the Lory Student Center on Thursday February 22nd, 2018 from 8 a.m. – 5p.m. The event is a collaboration between A Face to Reframe, Free Our Girls, Rescue: Freedom, and the CSU College of Business.

The symposium, which is open to students, community members and professionals, will consist of three plenary sessions, 101 break-out sessions, and 201 break-out sessions throughout the day.

Admission to the event is free for students, faculty and community members and is $25 for professionals who wish the follow the 201 track. Students can register for the whole day or for individual plenaries, and an $8 boxed lunch will be available to all registrants.

The symposium will host special guests Jeremy Vallerand and Dr. Becca Johnson, as well as keynote speaker, Rebecca Bender (pictured above). Jeremy Vallerand is the president and CEO of Rescue: Freedom International, a non-profit working to rescue and restore survivors of human trafficking as well as prevent the exploitation of those individuals. Dr. Becca Johnson is a licensed psychologist who is at the forefront of the anti human trafficking movement and serves as the International Program Director for Rescue: Freedom International. The keynote speaker, Rebecca Bender, is the founder and CEO of Rebecca Bender Initiatives, and author of Roadmap to Redemption.

Among the leaders of the symposium is CSU’s own Dr. Karrin Anderson. Dr. Anderson is a communication studies professor and the Director of Graduate Studies. Her focus is in gender, politics, and rhetoric. She created and teaches a human trafficking course at CSU, “Communication and Anti Human Trafficking,” which concentrates on anti human trafficking movements and communication strategies of activists, as well as the rhetoric and language employed in change surrounding human trafficking. An award-winning scholar, Dr. Anderson has written and co-written various publications about women in politics.

The event’s organizer, A Face to Reframe, is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization focused on human trafficking prevention, at-risk youth, youth with disabilities, youth living on the streets, and those living with HIV/AIDS. The organization emphasizes the importance of creativity and art with its participatory art projects, but also holds trainings and online courses, and engages in community building.

For full details on the Human Rights Symposium or to register for the event, visit A Face to Reframe’s website.

Photo: Rebecca Bender, survivor and keynote speaker at the symposium. Retrieved from Charisma News.