In response to the growing plight of human trafficking, a cause frequently championed by Pope Francis, Franciscan University of Steubenville will hold a continuing legal education course for law professionals on human trafficking. The course, titled “The Criminal Enterprise of Human Enslavement,” is offered through the Center for Criminal Justice, Law, and Ethics, a main draw of Franciscan University.
Taught by Liz Miller, founder and CEO of the International Organization for Stopping Exploitation of Women (IoSEW), the course will offer a comprehensive analysis of modern human trafficking, which is estimated to have become a $32 billion global industry. In the last decade, human trafficking has become the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world.
The course will primarily focus on the trafficking of persons within the United States, but it will include a broader examination of international contexts. According to a press release, areas of analysis include: legislative and legal responses and challenges, the nature and long-term consequences of victims’ exploitation, and new approaches to combating these crimes, such as demand reduction.
Students of the course will benefit from Miller’s extensive knowledge on the topic. After attending Regent University School of Law with a focus on human rights and international law, Miller became a member of the Center for Global Justice, interning at the European Center for Law and Justice in Strasbourg, France. In 2018, she moved to North Carolina, where she founded and currently runs the IoSEW, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the emancipation and rehabilitation of female minors who have survived domestic human sex trafficking.
This worthy course comes at a time when more help is needed to quell the rising levels of human trafficking around the world. Pope Francis routinely calls for more to be done to save those in bondage and bring justice to those who would profit off their misery. In February, the pope stated that “Human trafficking disfigures dignity,” especially to the young people involved in the struggle. He cautioned against an industry that treats people like “objects to be used and discarded,” and called on young people to be “missionaries of human dignity.”
“Guard this light and you will be a blessing to other young people,” Pope Francis said.
The course will be held Friday, March 24, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Registration is $149 or $99 for non-lawyers who are not earning CLE credit and includes a light breakfast and lunch. The course will be held at Franciscan University, click here to learn more.
