A conference on human trafficking, featuring former U.S. Rep. Linda Smith and two other speakers, will take place Nov. 13 in Tacoma.
The event is sponsored in part by Human Trafficking: Stop the Demand Tacoma, formed by three groups of Catholic sisters.
The conference will be from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in Kilworth Chapel at the University of Puget Sound, North 18th and Warner streets.
Smith, the former congresswoman from Vancouver, runs an organization, Shared Hope International, that urges tougher anti- trafficking laws and help for victims.
Two other speakers will be Kathleen Morris, program director of the Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network, and Erik Nicholson, international director of the Guest Worker Membership Program for the United Farm Workers of America. He will discuss how food is harvested and why trafficking is growing.
Human trafficking includes slave labor and the sexual exploitation of women, children and men through prostitution.
The three groups of Catholic sisters in Tacoma sponsoring the event are the Dominican Sisters, the Franciscan Sisters, and the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary. They sponsored an ad campaign on Pierce Transit buses last summer to raise local awareness about the global problem of human trafficking.
Other sponsors of the conference are the University of Puget Sound and the Intercommunity Peace and Justice Center in Seattle.
Early registration is requested by Friday by calling 253-503-1974.
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