Catholic Sisters Host Expert Panel On Sex Trafficking On College Campuses

An organization of religious women working to “eradicate modern-day slavery” raised awareness of human trafficking on college campuses in a recent online event.

On Wednesday, the Alliance to End Human Trafficking, or AEHT, hosted a webinar via Zoom on how college campuses across the United States face threats from human traffickers.

AEHT comprises members of more than 100 Catholic sisters’ congregations as well as like-minded individuals and groups, according to its website. The faith-based network advocates to prevent human trafficking, educates the public and helps survivors access support.

Communications Director Christine Commerce, who led the webinar, introduced The College Fix to the Sisters’ cause in an email last week.

“For some, attending college is a pivotal time that involves meeting new people and testing the waters of independence,” Commerce wrote. “It can also be a time of increased vulnerability. In addition to the disproportionately higher rates of sexual assaults occurring on college campuses, there is also the risk of sex trafficking.”

The Wednesday presentation “focuse[d] on human trafficking with particular attention to what is happening on college campuses across the U.S,” Commerce said.

The webinar featured a panel of “three long-time advocates and scholars,” according to Commerce.

Advocate and political science Professor Tony Talbott of the University of Dayton “is currently teaching one of the nation’s first college courses on human trafficking,” Commerce said in the webinar.

Talbott described anti-trafficking efforts as “the new abolition movement.”

Read the story by Colleen Farabaugh on The College Fix

Category: Academia