The Commodification of Human Beings: Exploring the Reality and Future of Modern-day Slavery

When: March 27, 2009, 8:30 am - 4:00 pm
Where: William F. Starr Hall

The Connecticut Journal of International Law Spring Symposium 2009

Trafficking in persons is modern-day slavery involving victims who are forced, defrauded or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. Victims are snared into trafficking by physical force or false promises regarding job/educational opportunities or marriages in foreign countries. Human trafficking has a devastating impact on individual victims, who often suffer physical and emotional abuse, rape, threats against self and family, passport theft, and even death. But the impact of human trafficking goes beyond individual victims; it undermines the health, safety and security of all nations it touches. Because human trafficking is transnational in nature, partnerships between countries are critical to win the fight against modern-day slavery.

Human trafficking is a multi-dimensional threat that deprives people of their human rights and freedoms. This year's symposium will address three types of modern-day slavery: domestic servitude, child soldiers and debt bondage. In addition to a keynote speaker, there will be three panel discussions entitled: (1) Domestic Servitude: Hidden in Plain Sight; (2) Child Soldiers: Life on the Front Lines; and (3) Peonage/Forced Labor: 21st Century Bondage.

Schedule

8:30 - 9:00	Registration & Breakfast
9:00 - 9:15	Opening Remarks Download the MP3 Jeremy Paul, Dean, University of Connecticut School of Law
9:15 - 10:45	Panel: Domestic Servitude: Hidden in Plain Sight Download the MP3 Moderator : Richard Michael Fischl, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development & Professor of Law, University of Connecticut School of Law Jocelyn Gill-Campbell, Organizer, Domestic Workers Union Gabriela Villareal, National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum Helen Armstrong, Associate, Free the Slaves Teresa C. Younger, Executive Director, Connecticut Legislature's Permanent Commission on the Status of Women Mark Taylor, Senior Coordinator for Reports and Political Affairs in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons , US Department of State
10:45 - 11:00	Break/Refresher
11:00 - 12:30	Panel: Child Soldiers: Life on the Front Lines Download the MP3 Moderator : Alexis Taylor Litos - Executive Director, The Barnaba Institute Judith Hyde, Coordinator of Volunteer Resources, Free the Slaves Dr. James A. Sweeney, Lecturer, Durham University Law School Jesse Eaves, Policy Advisor, Children in Crisis at World Vision David M. Rosen, Professor of Anthropology and Sociology, Fairleigh Dickinson University
12:30 - 1:15	Lunch
1:15 - 2:00	Keynote Address: A Blight on the Nation: Slavery in Today's America Download the MP3 Ron Soodalter, Author, Hanging Captain Gordon: The Life and Trial of an American Slave Trader
2:00 - 3:45	Panel: Peonage/Forced Labor: 21st Century Bondage Download the MP3 Moderator : Richard A. Wilson - Gladstein Chair of Human Rights, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Human Rights Institute, University of Connecticut Jennifer Dreher, Senior Director of Anti-Trafficking Program, Safe Horizon Antonela Arhin - Executive Officer, Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies, University of Toronto Samuel Martinez - Associate Professor of Anthropology and Latin American & Caribbean Studies, University of Connecticut Conny Rijken, Associate Professor in International and European Law, Tilburg University Krishna R. Patel, Assistant United States Attorney, District of Connecticut Jane Rodas - Director, Project Rescue and Assist New Americans, The International Institute of Connecticut, Inc.
3:45 - 4:00	Closing Remarks Download the MP3 Neysun A. Mahboubi - Visiting Professor, University of Connecticut School of Law

If you require a reasonable accommodation for a disability, please contact Jane Thierfeld Brown at (860) 570-5130 at least two weeks in advance.