Human trafficking is not, despite what many people believe, an issue far removed from our rural communities. In the last two years, both the Rotary Club of Sedona and the League of Women Voters conducted programs on human trafficking for their members, sponsoring education and eradication of human trafficking as national and international initiatives.
“It was as a result of my own heightened awareness and participation at both of these events that the idea of a program for the Sedona Women was fostered,” Sedona Women Chair Holli Ploog said. “As I am a member of the program committee, I presented the concept and our committee overwhelmingly supported a program educating our members on this complex and disturbing subject.”
Scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 14, at Poco Diablo Resort, “Bought and Sold: Modern Day Slavery” is not only an outcome of Ploog and her associates’ involvement with The Sedona Women — a group Ploog said provides “women the opportunity to learn about the community and to support community needs” — but also a result of her own professional career as an attorney specializing in crimes against women and children.
“Sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence were difficult crimes to prosecute and required continuous support for victims throughout the legal process,” Ploog said. “We also started a shelter for victims of domestic violence and supported the local rape crisis center. I was fortunate to work for a very progressive and open-minded district attorney who was willing to prosecute these crimes and create a unit dedicated to supporting its victims and witnesses.”
As an expert on issues closely tied to human trafficking, increasingly aware of the severity of the issue, Ploog reached out to experts on the subject. “Bought and Sold: Modern Day Slavery” will feature a keynote address by philanthropist Cindy Hensley McCain, wife of U.S. Sen. John McCain [R-Ariz.].
“Mrs. McCain is the co-chair of the Arizona Governor’s Council on human trafficking and on the McCain Institute’s Human Trafficking Advisory Council,” Ploog said. “She is dedicated to efforts to reduce human trafficking in Arizona, throughout the United States and around the world, as well as working to improve the lives of victims of human trafficking. Through her work with the McCain Institute, several partnerships have been formed with anti-trafficking organizations working on solving various aspects of the problem.”
– Zachary Jernigan
Larson Newspapers
To read the full story, see the Wednesday, Oct. 7, edition of The Camp Verde Journal.
