On Wednesday, October 18, The Sisters of Charity and People Against the Trafficking of Humans (PATH) presented a lecture to the students and faculty of Seton Hill University (SHU). PATH speaker Sr. Maria Riley gave the lecture, �Social and Economic Impact of Human Trafficking,� in Lynch Auditorium.
The lecture’s main intention was to make people aware of the current economic structures, systems and institutions in place globally, and how these things must be reformed �to create a more just world,� said Riley.
By Valerie Masciarelli,
News Editor
On Wednesday, October 18, The Sisters of Charity and People Against the Trafficking of Humans (PATH) presented a lecture to the students and faculty of Seton Hill University (SHU). PATH speaker Sr. Maria Riley gave the lecture, �Social and Economic Impact of Human Trafficking,� in Lynch Auditorium.
The lecture’s main intention was to make people aware of the current economic structures, systems and institutions in place globally, and how these things must be reformed �to create a more just world,� said Riley.
Globalization is currently creating situations that allow for human trafficking to occur, Riley told the audience. She also discussed how many people are brought or smuggled to the United States and other places of the world under the false pretenses of having better jobs.
Riley attributed these occurrences to �greed� and a growing need for �cheap labor.� This was something she strongly hoped would come across to those at the lecture.
�It is the world we�re living in that is feeding and is the context of the human trafficking and the massive migrations of people. If the world were working better, people would not have to migrate. If the world were working better, women and children would not find themselves forced into trafficking situations,� said Riley.
The issue of women and girls being the main victims of human trafficking was also raised and a topic of audience concern in the question-and-answer session afterwards.
�They are the most vulnerable�they carry the greatest burden of poverty. We live in a sexualized world and women are viewed as sexual beings rather than as human persons,� Riley said.
Riley, as well as other representatives of PATH, said that there was something those in the audience could do to help this issue.
�The idea is that the more people know, the more people will be able to act, and we are trying to lean toward doing things to try to give people a way to go, some sort of an action,� said Sr. Betty Sundry, a PATH member.
During this presentation, the audience was urged to write letters to state senators to vote for House Bill 1112, which will create heavier punishments and fines for human traffickers.
�Hopefully people will write. I could tell by the questions that were asked by the students that they got the message,� said Sundry. Those in the audience took in a lot of information from Riley’s lecture, and some were surprised at what they heard.
�I gained a great knowledge about human trafficking and a little more detail of the illegal immigrants given jobs that Americans don’twant to do,� said Jasmin Sadikovic, a junior at SHU.
�I didn’trealize that it was as big of a problem as it is. I really didn’tknow what to expect from the lecture, but I found that it was a more frequent occurrence than I realized,� said Kendra McIntire, also a junior.
�She gave a very well-reasoned presentation on this global problem of human slavery,� said Sr. Ann Infanger, a professor emeritus of biology.
�And there’s a positive aspect because we�re given the opportunity to get our senators to pass legislation against this,� added Infanger.
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