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Not On Our Watch: The War Against Sex Trafficking

Monday, October 22, 2018 from 6:30 pm

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We have identified sponsorship funding to cover costs, so we are now able to offer this event free of charge to the general public.

NCJW NY’s Advocacy Leadership Committee proudly presents

NOT ON OUR WATCH: THE WAR AGAINST SEX TRAFFICKING

October 22nd at 6:30 pm

The Peter Jay Sharp Theater

416 W. 42nd Street

Sex trafficking is a form of modern day slavery that exists throughout the United States and globally. In New York State, more than 4,000 underage youth are bought, sold and trafficked for sexual purposes and profit each night.

The evening will feature a performance of One Click Away, a work by Katie Capiello. This piece speaks frankly about the trafficking of young girls on the internet, and exposes the ease with which young people can be lured into the world of sex trafficking.

We will follow the performance by a panel discussion and Q & A session featuring:

Eric Fieldman, who has been privileged to serve the judges of the New York City Criminal Court as a court attorney for 20 years. A graduate of Vassar College and St. John’s University School of Law, he has worked closely with the Hon. Toko Serita since 2011 to develop one of the most innovative courts in this country that serves to identify and assist human trafficking victims through the Queens Human Trafficking Intervention Court.  In his role as legal adviser to Judge Serita, he has developed an expertise on trafficking issues and has worked with the judge on local, statewide and national projects involving human trafficking issues in the judicial system.  This includes developing policy issues, educational trainings and presentations, and facilitating community and stakeholder collaborations.  Under Judge Serita’s direction, Eric also helps oversee the collaborative, multidisciplinary program in the QHTIC which involves a dedicated team of stakeholders, including several non-governmental service provider organizations that work with trafficking survivors.  Most recently, Eric has worked on a training program on human trafficking for the New York State Court Officers Academy and regularly handles post-conviction sex trafficking vacatur motions filed by litigants seeking to vacate past prostitution convictions in order to open future opportunities. On a personal note, Eric and his family reside in Brooklyn with a dog, a cat and a fish.

Liz Corsini, MPH, is the Vice President and Director of Programs for the Bergen Family Center where she has worked with Bergen County families for over ten years. Liz earned her Masters in Public Health from Boston University; working for many years in the Massachusetts’s Juvenile Justice System and for the Massachusetts’s Department of Public Health in Substance Abuse Policy and Planning. Since 2011 Liz has led efforts to reduce sexual exploitation and intimate partner violence by providing comprehensive education, outreach, and intervention services in a school setting. Believing that efforts must start in schools, Liz began these programs in the City of Englewood’s Middle and High Schools. Committed to fostering a culture free of gender violence, Liz believes that targeted and defined programs must start as early as Pre-K and must engage boys and men early and often.  Liz continues to partner with local and national leaders to address the local impact of Human Trafficking, sexual and intimate partner violence. She has received community leadership awards from the Bergen Family Center, Garden State Equality, Women’s Rights Information Center, The Englewood Chamber of Commerce, and the State Assembly for her work on gender violence prevention. Liz lives in Englewood, NJ with her husband Josh Hyman, MD and four children, Julia, Jacob, Zoe and Charlotte.

William C. Silverman, Esq is a partner at Proskauer Rose LLP where he runs the firm’s pro bono program.  Bill serves as counsel to the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition, as Vice-Chair of the Fund For Modern Courts, and as Chair of Legal Information for Families Today (LIFT).   Previously, Bill served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, and as a law clerk to the Honorable Louis L. Stanton, United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York.

Jasmine Ortiz is a survivor of an overlooked but very common aspect of human trafficking called Familiar Trafficking. She was sold and raped by her family members and their friends from the ages of 3-14. They would exploit her for drugs, money and favors. As a young adult she was then involved in an abusive domestic violence relationship for 6 years, in which she had two children. She escaped that relationship and began to get her life together, finishing school, graduating from college and marrying her current husband, conceiving her third and final child. The process of reinventing herself wasn’t easy. While in school, and in the beginning of her marriage, Jasmine had a nervous breakdown and had begun to struggle mentally with PTSD because of all the abuse. The road to healing had began. There have been a lot of defeats and struggles, but with every victory, there have been different levels of healing, which had created in her an indignation and overwhelming passion to fight against human trafficking. Jasmine is a public advocate in the movement to end human trafficking and has been bringing awareness as a public speaker. She is the CEO/Founder of SAFE Network Inc, in New York. Mrs. Ortiz was directly involved in creating “Jasmine’s Room,” a program where a sexually abused child gets surprised with a fully furnished and renovated bedroom. As an abused child she would run to her room, shut the door and escape into her own reality. The vision is to create a safe haven for those children, A place to escape. SAFE collaborates with  City agencies, non-profits domestic violence and human trafficking service providers that address high risk client service issues. Mrs. Ortiz works to build survivor leadership and awareness of human trafficking and  domestic workers in the United States and around the world.

Laura Edidin is Chief of the Human Trafficking Unit in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and Co-Chair of the Brooklyn Human Trafficking Task Force.For her leadership in the anti-trafficking community, Laura received the 2017 Citizens Legacy Award from Homeland Security Investigations. Prior to joining the District Attorney’s Office, Laura was the founding Chief of the Administrative Prosecution Unit of the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, where she built the country’s first police misconduct prosecution unit housed within a civilian oversight agency. She was also the founding Director of Legal Services for the Anti-Violence Project, the country’s largest LGBTQ crime victim agency. In that capacity, she successfully represented civil rights protestors denied HIV medication while in police custody, leading to a change in NYPD policy. Laura earned a BA from Tufts University and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School.

 

Light refreshments to follow.

 

 

 

 

Details

Date:
Monday, October 22, 2018
Time:
6:30 pm

Venue

The Peter Jay Sharp Theater
416 W. 42nd Street
New York, NY United States
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