University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s 12th annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking is expanding its reach to a global and virtual audience. The month long conference starts today and will be free online.
Courtney Hillebrecht is an associate professor of political science and director of the Forsythe Family Program on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs in UNL. She said COVID-19 has negatively affected their ability to fight human trafficking, so it’s important to talk about the work done to combat the problem.
“We want to call attention to the problem, and particularly how the changing economic landscape, because of the COVID pandemic, will actually most likely put more people into a position of forced labor than ever before,” Hillebrecht said.
The lineup includes two movie screenings and 12 talks by human trafficking experts around the world. Speakers will talk about modern slavery, forced marriage, sex trafficking, missing indigenous women, and more. The conference concludes on Oct. 30.