News Release
(Lansing, MI)—The millions of women and children around the world trapped in sex slavery are the focus of meetings November 6-8, 2007, on the Michigan State University (MSU) campus, sponsored by InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, International Justice Mission (IJM), and other campus Christian organizations. Under the title of The Price of Life, MSU students are being invited to learn about the conditions that contribute to sex slavery. Financial contributions will be collected to fund the work of IJM in countries where organized crime and prostitution are degrading the lives of millions of women and children.
“Worldwide human trafficking generates about $9.5 billion each year,” according to the U.S. State Department’s 2005 Trafficking in Persons report. IJM president Gary Haugen calls this “a global trade in rape for profit.” While the worst centers of sex trafficking are in south Asia, where more than two-and-a-half million women and girls are forced to engage in prostitution, the CIA reports “18,000 to 20,000 people are trafficked every year in the U.S,” with over 200,000 reported slaves currently working in the U.S.
“The scale of modern slavery far outstrips the bondage outlawed by the U.S. and Britain several centuries ago,” says York Moore, Price of Life director. “What’s important to remember is that each one of these lives matters to God, and should matter to us.”
Interactive displays depicting the conditions and consequences of modern slavery and sex trafficking will be set up at locations across the MSU campus on Tuesday through Thursday, November 6-8. Hundreds of student volunteers will depict some of the degrading conditions experienced by those who are caught up in modern slavery. Each evening related programs will be held at several locations on campus, culminating in a presentation entitled The Price of Life, on Thursday evening, at the Kellogg Center’s Big Ten Room.
For more information:
York Moore
(313) 610-7860
www.msupriceoflife.com
