A packed house with some people standing

Thanks to everyone for such a great turn out at yesterday’s open forum on Human Trafficking: Philippine, Canadian and Global Context. Our five speakers gave their presentations to a packed conference room at the Liu Institute for Global Issues and did a fantastic job of unpacking the topic, particularly in the Philippines, Washington state and here in British Columbia. We hope that this is only the beginning of the cross-cultural dialogue on this issue, as the solution needs to be as international and collaborative as the problem itself.

Lila Shahani pictured on the left

Lila Shahani has graciously provided us a digital copy of her full presentation, “Situating Human Trafficking in the Philippines: Global, National and Personal Lila Shahani – Situating Human Trafficking in the Philippines: Global, National and Personal Contexts”. It goes into more depth than the shorter version she was able to read out at the forum. Please click the link below to download the presentation.

[Situating Human Trafficking in the Philippines: Global, National and Personal Contexts PDF (143 KB)]

Here’s the list of the speakers with links to their organizations or profiles for your reference:

• Lila Shahani, Assistant Secretary, Human Development and Poverty Reduction, Cabinet Cluster of the Philippine Government
• Velma Veloria, Washington State Representative 1993-2004, Sponsor of HB 1175
• Emma Catague, Representative, API Chaya
• Suzanne Jay, Representative, Asian Women Coalition Ending Prostitution
• Dr. Michael Markwick, Capilano University

Photography by Bert Morelos

Thanks again everyone, and we hope to see you soon!