College Conferences Spotlight Human Trafficking
PARAMUS, N.J. – According to data reported by former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last year, approximately 27 million people worldwide have become victims of human trafficking through exploited labor, services and commercial sex.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline, which serves as a resource for victims, survivors and those seeking to report incidents, confirmed 170 cases of human trafficking in New Jersey in 2023. To foster dialogue on this global issue with local impacts, Bergen Community College will host companion conferences open to the public on the topic in April.
The first event, “They Have a Name: Safe Spaces for Dialogue on Human Trafficking Prevention and Solutions,” will take place on Thursday, April 10 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Moses Family Meeting and Training Center, Technology Education Center room 128 at the College’s main campus at 400 Paramus Road in Paramus. Dana Carter, a prevention and education coordinator at the YWCA Northern New Jersey healingSPACE, will lead the conference. Representing Bergen County’s only sexual violence resource center, Carter will engage with attendees and collect their feedback to create a data-driven body of research that will influence the content of the second conference in the two-part series. The event will include a light breakfast and lunch for attendees. Register at bccevents.ludus.com/200476728.
The second half of the two-part series, “Child Protection Town Hall: Data Sharing and Dialogue with the Community” will take place on Monday, April 28 at 6:30 p.m. in the Anna Maria Ciccone Theatre at the College’s main campus. Building on the responses provided during the April 10 conference, Bergen sociology professor Shari Franschman will lead a discussion that seeks to identify how community members can contribute to the fight against human trafficking. To register, visit bccevents.ludus.com/200476737.
The events coincide with the College’s sponsorship of events recognizing the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month. In addition to the companion conferences, the College will host numerous on campus events for students, faculty and staff that highlight issues related to sexual violence.
Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 13,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.
Photo Caption: Bergen Community College students contributed their signatures in support of victims of sexual violence as part of the institution’s annual Sexual Assault Awareness Month events.
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