Talk Description: This lecture will explore the history of slavery and racial oppression from a policy standpoint. Discussion will focus on how systemic oppression has historically led to the current factors tied to the exploitation of minority and immigrant populations for commercial sex and labor. The lecture will take a human rights approach with a racial justice lens.
Speaker Bio: Dr. Melissa Irene Maldonado Torres is Director of the Human Trafficking Research Portfolio at the Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault at the University of Texas at Austin. She served as the Subject Matter Expert on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ healthcare professional’s response to human trafficking program, an initiative of President Obama’s Federal Strategic Action Plan on Services for Victims. She teaches classes on human trafficking at both the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston. She serves as the human trafficking expert for various academic studies in the U.S. and Latin America. Over the last 10 years, her research has included the trafficking of women from Latin America for sexual exploitation, policy analysis on the protection of domestic minor sex trafficking survivors, labor abuse and exploitation faced by undocumented immigrants, assessments on displacement and knowledge of trafficking risks in indigenous communities, and exploring the demand side of sex trafficking.
Reception to follow in Minon Hall, Rm.108.
