St. Thomas University and Florida Bar’s Public Interest Law Section to Participate in Human Trafficking Conference
MIAMI – Miami’s St. Thomas University President, Monsignor Franklyn M. Casale, recently joined representatives from US and foreign government law enforcement agencies, scholars, attorneys and members of the diplomatic corps at the Universidad Libre, Bogota, Colombia for an international symposium on modern-day slavery. A series of conferences and workshops is taking place around the globe to expand awareness of how smuggling and illegal immigration has aggravated human trafficking and the alarming statistics of the epidemic.
Representing academia as a keynote speaker in the US Congress, the US Embassy to the Holy See and this past July in Colombia, Monsignor points to the necessity of further in-depth study as the trade in humans leaves no paper trail for the authorities to follow, no bank transactions to track, not even suspicions of tax evasions. A recent study by the International Labor Organization (ILO) reveals that at least 2.45 million persons across the globe are subject to trafficking. Out of this number, 1.2 million are children. There is a rise in illegal immigration – to the US as well as to other developed countries – with transnational victims being trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation as in the case of mail order or foreign bride schemes. Florida cases include forced labor in camps (agricultural issues), nursing homes, restaurants, bars, construction sites and factories. Victims keep quiet fearing for their lives and the well being of those they left behind.
Addressing the role of academia, Monsignor Casale has been constantly reaching out for public-private sector partnerships, stressing that higher learning institutions serve as incubators, think tanks and informational portals. St. Thomas University has been a pioneer in the struggle. Under Professor Roza Pati’s direction, its School of Law’s Intercultural Human Rights Program has graduated students who work in some kind of public service as attorneys and advocates who focus on servitude, abuse and migration. Students looking to receive their graduate degree are involved in the Human Trafficking Initiative grant, funded by the US Department of Justice, conducting research, gathering data, providing training to the private sector and developing partnerships.
The legal and law enforcement community is invited to attend the conference “Human Trafficking: What Florida Lawyers Need to Know”, to be held October 7, 2011 at St. Thomas University, 16401 NW 37 Avenue in Miami, 8:30 AM to 1:00 PM. With the participation of the Public Interest Law Section of the Florida Bar, the symposium is one of many culminating in the Human Trafficking Academy in the summer of 2012.
