Dialogue on Violence Against Women

Sacramento State will present its fifth annual Dialogue on Violence Against Women from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 13, in the University Union.

The conference is titled, “Human Trafficking: Internationally and In Our Own Backyard.” There are an estimated 27 million people who are enslaved today nationally and internationally.

The conference will feature the Survivors’ Quilt Project, whose mission is to raise awareness about modern-day slavery and to honor the survival of slaves globally. Aashika Damodar, founder of the project, will discuss some of the stories behind it. 

Soheir Stolba will present, “Trafficking in Women: A Case Study from Nigeria.” Stolba is an anthropology professor at American River College and co-founder of the SHARE Institute, a non-profit organization that specializes in assisting women and children globally and domestically. 

The conference also includes a showing of the award-winning documentary “Sacrifice,” which examines the social, cultural, and economic forces at work in the trafficking of Burmese girls into prostitution in Thailand. The filmmaker, Ellen Bruno, will discuss the film and her experiences.

Also featured will be Kay Buck, executive director of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking in Los Angeles.

This conference is co-sponsored by the Sacramento State Women’s Resource Center, Sacramento State Student Health Services, the SHARE Institute, My Sister’s House, Soroptimists of Sacramento, and the Visiting Scholars Program of the Sacramento State Center for Teaching and Learning.

The conference is open to the public. Tickets are $45 general admission, $25 for students and seniors. To register for the conference, visit www.my-sisters-house.org.  For more information on the conference, call the Women’s Resource Center at 278-7388 or visit at www.csus.edu/wrc.