A month-long summit will shine a light on modern slavery.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Human Trafficking and Migration Initiative Virtual Summit kicks off at 6 p.m. on October 3 with a live concert from Remedy Drive in the Union of Nebraska Centennial Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.
Remedy Drive is an alternative rock band led by David Zach from Nebraska. Zach, who was born in Omaha and now lives in Nashville, Tennessee, also works for the anti-human trafficking organization Exodus Road, which identifies and rescues slaves. Zach has served on investigative teams with the organization in the field in countries in Asia and Latin America.
In its 13th year, the annual conference continues as a virtual event, in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also to allow people around the world to have the opportunity to learn from the range of experts. Pre-recorded presentations will be posted on the site and will cover topics such as health care and human rights; the modern-day slavery movement; domestic trafficking; and missing and murdered indigenous women.
Sriyani Tidball, a retired assistant professor of practice at the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, is hosting the summit again, with support from the Forsythe Family Program on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs in Nebraska.
“We wanted to make things as easy as possible,” Tidball said. “It worked really well last year. People from all over the world were watching us and we were able to bring in speakers from different places. “
Video presentations will begin appearing on the summit’s website on October 4, with a welcome from Chancellor Ronnie Green. On October 6, viewers will hear human trafficking survivor Keisha Walcott, who will present with Dr Anita Ravi, CEO and co-founder of the PurpLE Health Foundation, which has established medical care for survivors of human trafficking.
In addition to the concert, another in-person event will take place during the summit. Kevin Bales, research director for the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham in Sheffield, UK, will present and answer questions during a journalism course led by Barney McCoy. The presentation and Questions and answers will be recorded and published on the summit website.
The concert is sponsored by the Forsythe Family Program on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, the Pearle Francis Finigan Foundation and Student Leadership, Implication and Community Engagement.
The full list of presentations is as follows:
- October 4: A welcome to ONE Initiative on Human Trafficking and Migration.
- October 6: Dr Anita Ravi and Keisha Walcott, “Financial Health: Solving the Poverty and Health Trap in Human Trafficking”.
- October 7: Leonard Rubenstein, lawyer, author and professor at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, “The Drivers and Consequences of Violence Against Health Care”.
- October 11: Amelia Watkins-Smith, PhD student at the University of Nottingham and Research Associate at the Rights Lab, “A Feminist Analysis of the Trafficking of Chinese Brides”.
- October 12: Jason Pope, Executive Director and Founder of Rain Collective, and Leah Edwards, Founder of Kaart Consulting and Principal Researcher at Rain Collective, “Building Connections and Facilitating Partnerships: Human Trafficking in the Middle East and the Gulf States “.
- October 14: Oana Burcu, Rights Lab, “Understanding the Risks of Exploitation for Vulnerable Migrant Workers in the UK”
- October 15: Rochelle Dalla, Professor of Child, Youth and Family Studies in Nebraska, “Family Sex Trafficking Among the Bedia Caste of India: Challenging the Mainstream Discourse on Human Trafficking”.
- October 19: Kevin Bales, Research Director, Rights Lab, Nottingham University, Sheffield, UK, presentation and discussion with students from Nebraska.
- October 20: Monti Narayan Datta, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Richmond, “Contemporary slavery andarm conflict: Introducing the CSAC database.”
- October 22: Davina Durgana, co-author and senior statistician for the Global Slavery Index of Walk Free and Senior Multilateral Engagement Advisor for the Minderoo Foundation, “Finding today’s slaves: statistics in the fight against modern slavery. “
- October 25: Lucy Mahaffey, Marshall Scholar Communication Fellow, University of Nottingham, “Oklahoma’s Response to Human Trafficking”.
- October 26: Judi gaiashkibos, Executive Director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, and Advisor and Professor to the Native Daughters Projects at the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, “Missing and assassined Indigenous women and children”.
- October 28: Christine Diindiisi McCleave, “Truth, Healing and Justice for Residential Schools”.
- October 29: Courtney Hillebrecht, Director of the Forsythe Family Program on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, “Wrap of Summit: What next? “
