Kathy Givens, an internationally renowned speaker, author, overcomer of human trafficking and compelling voice for change, was one of three keynote speakers who shared insights on trauma, healing, and resilience at the fourth Northern Colorado Human Trafficking Symposium hosted virtually this spring.
The symposium, held April 11-12, is a biennial, collaborative event hosted by the CSU Center for Ethics and Human Rights, the Richardson Foundation, U-COUNT Campaign, Hope Roots and other sponsors. The symposium sought to engage and educate the global community on the issue of human trafficking through research, training and collaboration.
This year, the symposium highlighted the theme “Equipping the Global Frontlines” and brought together 1,217 attendees from multiple countries, including India, Thailand and Colombia. The symposium featured preeminent survivor leaders as keynote speakers and included prominent academic researchers and influential allies as presenters and facilitators at the professional development and research discussion sessions. The topics covered in the symposium include protecting children from online sexual exploitation, global human trafficking, trauma, healing and resilience, intersectionality, transitioning from oppressed victim to survivor leader, disrupting the commercial sexual exploitation market and others.
Trauma recovery
In her keynote, titled “Meaningful Partnerships, Intersectionality and the Role of Survivor Leadership,” Givens discussed how restoration from trauma is a life-long process.
“Partnerships to end human trafficking cannot be effective without listening to survivors and learning from them,” she said. “It is important for each one of us to ask how we can use our skills and walk alongside survivors in partnership.”
Jesse Leon, another keynote speaker who is the award-winning bilingual author of the book “I’m Not Broken” shared his journey through violence, exploitation and healing. Christian Eduardo discussed his lived experiences surviving commercial sexual and labor exploitation as an immigrant trafficked in the United States.
The Symposium featured pre-eminent survivor leaders and trauma experts, including Rebecca Bender, Wade Arvizu, Melissa Kaiser and Maria Tell. Additionally, legal experts from Burg Simpson, a leading plaintiff’s trial law firm that has operated for 40 years, and which has taken on some of the wealthiest corporations in the world and won, discussed the legal tools available to fight human trafficking. David TeSelle, Lauren Knapp and Morgan Carroll represented their team of 65 attorneys and provided an overview of criminal and civil legal tools for survivors, the intersection of criminal and civil law, and civil remedies available to support survivors and hold traffickers accountable.
The symposium was organized by Lumina Albert, an associate professor of management and business ethics and executive director of the Center for Ethics and Human Rights.
