According to United States Department of State, human trafficking is defined as “the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for compelled labor or commercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud, or coercion.” Regarded as the new slavery, there are approximately (#) people in the U.S. who have been forced into trafficking. January is national human trafficking awareness month and events are hosted throughout the county to increase education and awareness of the issue.

The Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE) hosted a trip to Penn Cinema in Lancaster January 21 for students to see the movie “Nefarious: The Merchant of Souls.” Sharon Sherick, Director of the CCCE, and five students attended the event.

“No matter what discipline a student might be in at school, I believe it is helpful for them to be informed of social injustice within their world,” Sherick said.

The 2011 documentary followed Benjamin Nolot and his team across four continents, telling the story of women forced into sex slavery. Nolot runs Exodus Cry, an anti-trafficking organization that funds abolition, intervention and restoration efforts for victims of trafficking. The filmmakers interviewed past victims of trafficking, ex-prostitutes and ex-johns, as well as government officials and journalists, in order to paint a picture of the world-wide situation.

“I learned that prostitution is considered slavery, as well,” senior Occupational Therapy major Emily Lindemuth said. “It was a very different perspective than I ever had on it before.”

“The CIA would say that the sale of women – not pornography, not even prostitution – just the sale of women constitutes the third largest industry in the world,” Dr. Dan Allender, psychologist and anti-trafficking advocate in the film, said.

Another awareness event, a human trafficking conference will be held at Lancaster Bible College January 30. The conference will be free and transportation provided to interested students through the CCCE.