New York Adult Entertainment: Human trafficking is a pervasive, local problem, Edison panel says
Lauren Mueller, a second year anthropology student who organized the event under the newly-formed Students Advancing Human Rights club, said she wanted to increase awareness “for the victims of the past, present, and trying to diminish the ones of the future.”
Her initiative began Jan. 9 with a screening at Edison of “Immokalee U.S.A.,” a film about farmworker exploitation. The following week, trafficking survivor Teresa Flores spoke to an audience of about 140 people about being sexually exploited as a teen in Michigan.
Low prosecution rates nationwide indicate the difficulty of bringing justice to the victims and putting perpetrators behind bars, the panel said. Changing public perceptions about human trafficking, such as considering certain cases of prostitution to be sex trafficking or accepting that the problem is local as well as global, are the next steps to a take.