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SEX TRAFFICKING EXPERT TO SPEAK AT TRAINING
Polaris Project Co-Founder will discuss modern-day slavery.For Immediate Release: June 14, 2007
Contact: Hugh C. Minor IV
Office: 401-421-4100, ext. 109
Email: hminor@dayoneri.orgPROVIDENCE, RI (June 14, 2007).
On Saturday, June 16, Day One will host Katherine Chon, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Polaris Project, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that combats sex trafficking around the world.
Chon will be speaking from 9-11 a.m. at Day One and will be available for interviews along with Day One staff, immediately after the session.
Chon founded Polaris after reading a local newspaper article describing South Korean women trafficked into a massage parlor a few miles from where she lived. Five years later, the organization has grown into one of
the largest anti-trafficking NGOs in the country under her leadership. Day One is bringing Chon to Rhode Island to speak to its new corps of Helpline Advocates. These
volunteers respond to calls for assistance from victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and hate crimes by meeting them at hospitals and police stations to offer them advocacy and support.
The U.S. government estimates that each year as many as 800,000 people around the world are enslaved as laborers or sex workers—15,000 of them in the United States. Although exact numbers are not known,
it is feared that victims of sex trafficking exist in communities throughout Rhode Island, working out of spas, massage parlors, and, even sometimes, homes. Chon will help the Advocates understand the plight of
women who have been trafficked and work with them to develop strategies to get out of these situations. About Polaris Project Polaris Project is a leading international organization combating human trafficking and modern-day slavery.
Based in the United States and Japan, Polaris brings together community members, survivors, and professionals to fight trafficking and slavery in the spirit of a modern-day Underground Railroad. For more information, visit: www.polarisproject.org. About Day One
Day One's mission is to reduce the prevalence of sexual abuse and violence, and to support and advocate
for those affected by it. For more than 30 years, Day One has been on the forefront of efforts to end sexual violence in R.I. Established in 1973 as the R.I. Rape Crisis Center, Day One is the only agency in
R.I. organized specifically to deal with issues of sexual assault as a community concern. For more information, visit www.dayoneri.org. |
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