UD group working to end human trafficking

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - University of Dayton students are working to take down a $35 billion global industry.

The second Consciousness Rising conference was held March 7-9 to expose students, faculty and staff, as well as the greater Dayton community, to the issues of human trafficking. Event organizers say human trafficking generates $35 billion worldwide a year, which is more than Nike, Google and Starbucks combined.

The New Abolitionist Group, a University of Dayton student-run group dedicated to the elimination of human trafficking, started Consciousness Rising last year as a one-day event. Realizing the event's impact, organizers expanded it to three days this year, according to Erin Peery, president of Consciousness Rising.

Nicholas Kristof, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist and co-author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, headlined this year's event.

Following Kristof's talk on Saturday, the public was invited to participate in interactive student exhibits and groups discussing resources to combat current racial injustices. Topics included racism, oppression and the achievement gap, domestic and international racial and ethnic relations, the University's campus diversity climate and corporate social responsibility.

"We realized after last year's event this is something we need to expand to more of campus. We see so many great passionate people on campus," Peery said. "If they can just know the impact they can have on these issues, we think great change could happen."

The University's offices of Multicultural Affairs and Housing and Residence Life, along with the department of sociology, anthropology and social work, sponsored the event.

The New Abolitionist Movement, founded in 2010, continues to lobby for stronger anti-human trafficking laws in Ohio, make presentations in the region to raise awareness of human trafficking, conduct fundraisers to benefit agencies working with victims and encourage local businesses to post trafficking hotline posters.