From Virginia Gause

The Women’s Studies Committee at South Texas College will be hosting its third annual Human Trafficking Conference April 1-3 at the Pecan Campus in McAllen. The conference will include presentations by guest speakers and art exhibits on both sides of the Texas/Mexico border, and will focus on the political, social and economic causes of the physical and sexual labor of trafficked persons.

The keynote and featured speakers are Mimi Chakarova, a photojournalist From 20 U.C. Berkeley; Victor Malarek, Canadian TV and author of The Natashas; Anna I. Rodriguez, founder and director of the Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking; Marisa Ugarte, director of the Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition in San Diego; and Robert Jensen of The University of Texas at Austin and author of Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity.

Researchers, faculty, graduate students, journalists and others working in a relevant capacity are invited to present findings and observations on a wide range of issues related to sex trafficking and the root causes of this growing tragedy.

Proposals for papers, panels and roundtables will be accepted through Feb. 20, 2009.

Topics may include the nature and causes behind the growing production of Sexual exploitation; the interconnection between sex and labor trafficking; Organized sex industries and the people who profit from them; the denial of basic Human rights in forced prostitution; the connection between the global economy and the rise of sexual slavery; and strategies for reducing the global practice of sex and labor trafficking.

Submissions may be sent via e-mail to Jenny B. Clark, chair of the South Texas College Women’s Studies Committee, at jclark@southtexascollege.edu or to Mark Burton at amburton@southtexascollege.edu. Please include the term “Sex Trafficking Conference” in the subject=line.