PORT ANGELES — This week and next month, Soroptimist clubs in Port Angeles and Sequim are hosting programs on human trafficking and slavery in the Pacific Northwest.
Seattle Police Detective Megan Bruneau, formerly of Port Angeles, and Marie Hoffman of the Washington Anti-Trafficking Response Network, or WARN, will discuss the issues at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in a free program at the Port Angeles Senior Community Center, 328 E. Seventh St.
“Our speakers will be telling us more about what we can do,” said Ruth Thomson of the Port Angeles Soroptimist club.
She added that trafficking of women and girls has become a serious problem in many U.S. cities, including Portland, Ore., and Seattle.
In both Sequim and Port Angeles, Soroptimists are passing out cards to the public titled “The New Face of Slavery,” with information about the sexual trafficking of women and girls.
Skit in Sequim
Rose Jaeger, president-elect of Soroptimist International of Sequim, added that a group of Sequim High School students will present a skit, “Body and Soul,” at the Sequim club’s meeting at 7 a.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at the Cedars at Dungeness, 1965 Woodcock Road.
“Body and Soul” is about a teenage runaway who ends up as a prostitute, Jaeger said.
A statement from the Soroptimists noted that sexual trafficking is the movement of people, within national or across international borders, for the purposes of prostitution or other forms of commercial sexual exploitation.
“Soroptimists want the public to become aware of its depth and to be able to recognize a woman or girl — perhaps a neighbor — who may need help getting out of a dire situation,” the statement said.
Soroptimist International of the Americas, headquartered in Philadelphia, is a volunteer organization for business- and professional women who work to improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and throughout the world.
For more information, visit www.soroptimistNWR.org or www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
