On April 19, Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy hosted the 2nd Annual Human Trafficking Research Luncheon for the USC research community. USC faculty from across campus discussed the spectrum of human trafficking research and interdisciplinary perspectives and collaborations.
Luncheon attendees heard from Rhacel Parrenas on her most recent book, Illicit Flirtations: Labor, Migration and Sex Trafficking in Tokyo, and from Mark Latonero on his white paper, Human Trafficking Online: The role of social networking sites and online forums. Attendees also discussed the current legal definitions of human trafficking in domestic and international law, the pros and cons of the T visa and the U visa, various methods and ideas for engaging students in the classroom around issues of human trafficking, the recent changes in California laws.
Attendees included Hannah Garry, Niels Frenzen and Elizabeth Henneke from the Gould School of Law who work on human trafficking cases; Francois Bar and Mark Latonero from Annenberg School of Communication, who work on developing ICT solutions to human trafficking; and Rhacel Parrenas from the Sociology Department, a leading scholar of women’s labor and migration issues; Zhaleh Boyd from the Master of Public Diplomacy program and Erin Kamler from the doctoral program at Annenberg.
The ongoing global problem of human trafficking requires a multi-disciplinary response. The Department of Justice has underscored this by providing funding to coalitions that include a variety of service providers, including law enforcement, health services, legal counsel, shelter services, child protection services, refugee advocates, and other service providers. In line with these efforts, CCLP convenes trafficking research luncheons on a regular basis in order to provide a space for communication and collaboration across disciplines within the USC community on the topic of human trafficking.
The Technology & Trafficking in Persons Project at the Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership & Policy will convene the next Human Trafficking Research Luncheon the Fall.
This blog entry was contributed by Research Fellow Zhaleh Boyd