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Getting “Inside the Business of Modern Slavery” at GU’s Presidential Lecture

Twice a year Gonzaga University brings renowned authors and researchers to speak in Spokane. The Presidential Speaker in April is a man who wrote the book on modern slavery. Siddharth Kara has actually authored two books on modern slavery and sex trafficking, documenting more than 1,000 cases worldwide. Kara says there’s much more awareness now, than when he started his research in the late 80’s, but work to stop trafficking hasn’t progressed.

Kara: “Human trafficking doesn’t have to happen nearby just to affect us. When a child or a human trafficking victim is making something we buy every day on the far side of the world, that’s affecting us. That’s touching us. And we’re complicit in contributing to it by purchasing those goods.”
 
Kara tackled the supply chain of goods in a recent report published in Forbes, with the first hard-data on the topic.
 
Kara: “It was the first comprehensive documentation of slavery in child labor in a product supply chain, and this product was hand-made carpets from India, all the way to retail sale in the United States.”
 
Kara teaches a course on human trafficking at the Harvard School of Public Health, and says it’s important for students to learn about because affects the U.S., and more research is needed. He’s become a go-to expert on the topic for media around the world, and regularly contributes to a special CNN project.
Gonzaga’s president will host Siddharth Kara April 1st, Tuesday, at 7 pm. More information is at gonzaga.edu
 
Copyright 2014 Spokane Public Radio

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