unc.edu/news

Thursday and Friday (April 3-4)
William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education
100 Friday Center Drive, Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Carolina Women’s Center, in partnership with other campus and local organizations, will host its biennial conference on sex trafficking later this week at the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education. “Combating Sex Trafficking: Prevention and Intervention in North Carolina and Worldwide” is designed to inspire action, culminating in the creation of a working plan for North Carolinians to help survivors, raise awareness and put a stop to trafficking.

New topics at the 2008 conference include –

• Taking action against sex trafficking in North Carolina specifically
• Child exploitation in sex trafficking
• The response of law enforcement and media to sex trafficking

Also, activist and actress Sharon Lawrence, a Raleigh native and UNC-Chapel Hill alumna, will moderate a panel discussion on child exploitation and give a lunchtime talk on being an activist actress, both on Friday. She will be available to take questions from the media immediately before her panel that day and will have a limited availability to do telephone interviews before the conference. Please contact Susan Houston of UNC News Services (contact information below) to schedule an interview in advance.

The conference will also provide information to journalists interested in learning more about resources and techniques for media for covering the topic of sex trafficking while protecting the integrity and rights of survivors.

Media and Internet Responsibility
Thursday (April 3)
4:30 p.m. to 5:40 p.m.
Grumman Auditorium, Friday Center

Conference registration: Journalists may register on site the day of the conference or in advance online at http://womenscenter.unc.edu/08conference/. The conference registration fee will be waived for journalists who attend only the training session above. Those who wish to register for all sessions on Thursday would pay $25, which also includes breakfast, lunch, reception and dinner.

Media availability for Sharon Lawrence
Friday (April 4)
11 a.m. to 11:25 a.m.
Dogwood Room A & B, Friday Center

Media room: A room has been set aside at the conference for media members to file their reports. The Friday Center has a wireless network for connecting to the Internet.

Schedule: For a complete schedule of conference sessions, visit
http://womenscenter.unc.edu/08conference/schedule.html.

Link to UNC fact sheet on sex trafficking: http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/campus-and-community/
background-information-for-covering-the-sensitive-topic-of-sex-trafficking.html
Link to UNC tip sheet on covering sex trafficking: http://uncnews.unc.edu/news/campus-and-community/
tips-for-covering-the-sensitive-topic-of-sex-trafficking.html

Parking: Free parking is available at the Friday Center.

Directions: The Friday Center is located just east of the UNC-Chapel Hill main campus, across N.C. 54 from Meadowmont. For a map and more detailed directions, visit http://www.fridaycenter.unc.edu/directions/index.htm

Conference Web site: http://womenscenter.unc.edu/08conference/

Carolina Women’s Center contact: Pam Lach, (919) 962-8305, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it