MORE THAN 800 FACULTY, STUDENTS ATTEND NELSON INSTITUTE CONFERENCE ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND EXPLOITATION OF CHILDREN
February 2, 2006
HARRISONBURG—Over 800 James Madison University faculty and students as well as members of the general public attended events during the two-day “Innocents Lost: The Human Trafficking and Exploitation of Children” conference organized for the Center for Liberal and Applied Social Sciences and the Justice Studies Major by the Nelson Institute for International and Public Affairs in cooperation with Priority Films.
Participants in the conference January 31 and February 1, 2006, saw screenings of select portions of three Priority Films productions: Holly, a feature length narrative film based on the true stories of abducted children and their fight for freedom, starring Ron Livingston, Virginie Ledoyan, Udo Kier, and the late Chris Penn, and introducing Thuy Nguyen; The Virgin Harvest, a feature length HD documentary following the victims of child trafficking and exploitation in real time and in their own words, directed by award winning director Charles Kiselyak; and The K11 Journey, a documentary television series that follows The K11 Project’s efforts to expose the explosive subject of child trafficking for sexual exploitation.
Attendees also heard from Dr. Glenn P. Hastedt, director of the Center for Liberal and Applied Social Sciences and the Justice Studies Major; Dr. J. Peter Pham, director of the Nelson Institute; Guy Jacobson, president of Priority Films; actor Ron Livingston; Guy Moshé, director of Holly; Oscar-nominated director Charles Kiselyak, director of The Virgin Harvest; Adi Ezroni, producer of “The K11 Project” at Priority Films; Emmy Award-winning producer Richard Greenberg of Dateline NBC; Mu Sochua, former minister of women’s affairs in the Cambodian government and recent nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize; Lucie Hrbkova, director of programs at the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC); Rodger Hunter-Hall, representing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Mirlinda Caton of Amnesty International U.S.A.
The conference is an annual event for the Center for Liberal and Applied Social Sciences and the Justice Studies Major. Last year’s conference studied genocide.