The Princeton Area Anti-Torture Group is set to co-sponsor a lecture on human trafficking by former U.S. Senator and former state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa.
The talk is entitled “The Challenge of Human Trafficking,” and marks the end of Torture Awareness Month.
An estimated 100,000 girls under 18 years old are trafficked into commercial sex in the United States each year.
Those who fall victim of human trafficking are often those with the least number of options. In a place such as Nigeria, for instance, where 200 school girls recently were kidnapped, some two-thirds of women in the region have had no formal education, only one in 20 has completed high school, and half are married by age 15.
Assistant Attorney General for Human Trafficking Tracy Thompson is set to introduce Chiesa.
Chiesa is known for his personal dedication to ending human trafficking. He served in the United States Senate following the death of Senator Frank Lautenberg. During his time in the Senate, Mr. Chiesa participated in a number of U.S. Senate committees including Homeland Security Committee where he worked to improve information sharing among federal agencies following the bombing at the Boston Marathon and continued his work to combat and raise awareness of human trafficking.
The lecture is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. June 26 in the Sophia Lyon Fahs Auditorium at the Princeton Unitarian Universalist Congregation Church, 50 Cherry Hill Road, Princeton.