April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and in light of this, the Network on Child Protection and Well-Being is sponsoring a sex trafficking awareness event. “Sex Trafficking: Vulnerabilities and Solutions” will serve as a platform for an open dialog among trafficking survivors as well as experts in the community to help combat this growing problem.

In a 2012 report, close to 2 million children were exploited to some sort of human trafficking. Every 30 seconds another person falls victim to this crime, most of them between the ages of 12-14. This is not only a global issue but also a growing problem in the state of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Congressman Charles Dent will be the keynote speaker for the event. Dent is just one on a panel that includes survivors, advocates, and a specialist, who will discuss the issue of this crime and what steps can be taken to prevent trafficking and action that we as a university can take.

Network on Child Protection and Well-Being will also be collaborating with the Penn State Colleges of IST, Communications, and Nursing. A team of specialists from the College of IST has been analyzing the problem areas, to help increase security measures to protect children from being victimized.

“This is IST’s second year putting on this event. For the past three years, students in IST have been working on a project to help law enforcement identify sex trafficking on the web and the event is a way to show some of the work we’ve done, but more importantly spread awareness so people can begin to understand that sex trafficking is a problem we have right here in Pennsylvania,” explained Andrea Forster, a member of the IST team.

The event will run Saturday April 9, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and will take place in the Founders Room at the Bryce Jordan Center.