Human Trafficking Awareness Day: Rally, Panel & Performance | Redwood City

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Recognize Human Trafficking Awareness Day with a day full of activities including a rally, panel discussion and a dramatic actors’ reading on the Courthouse Square and learn more about human trafficking in San Mateo County and what is being done to rescue victims from this crime.

Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. Traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to control victims for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or labor services against his/her will. Human trafficking is the fastest growing crime in the world, and happens in San Mateo County. With increased awareness among the general public who learn the warning signs and how to report suspicious activity, we can build a united front to the injustice of human trafficking.

Schedule for Human Trafficking Awareness Day – May 14, 2016

11 a.m. — Brass Act Quintet plays on the Courthouse Square Stage  

11 a.m. — Student-led walk around the block surrounding Courthouse Square and through

     downtown Redwood City. (Students will gather at Courthouse Square at 10:30 a.m.)

Noon-12:50 p.m. — Rally with speakers, Courthouse Square

     • Welcome and introductions: John Seybert, mayor, Redwood City

     • State Sen. Jerry Hill

     • Warren Slocum, president, San Mateo County Board of Supervisors

     • Steve Wagstaffe, San Mateo County District Attorney

     • Mike Callagy, San Mateo County Assistant County Manager

     • Regina Evans, business entrepreneur and trafficking survivor

     • Jonathan Fung, PEEP Artist and Santa Clara University lecturer,

          Department of Communications

      • Tony Gapastione, writer and director of Neighbor film

1-2:30 p.m. — Panel Discussion: Human Trafficking in San Mateo County: What It Is and How You Can Help in Prevention and Rescue, a panel discussion, San Mateo County History Museum, Courtroom A

     • Catherine Egli, M.D, pediatric endocrinologist, Kaiser Permanente, volunteer ambassador

          with Shared Hope International

     • Mike Brosnan, human trafficking program coordinator at San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office

     • Betty Ann Hagenau, executive director and founder, Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition

     • Denicia Cormier, social worker for San Mateo County Children and Family Services

     • Regina Evans, business entrepreneur and trafficking survivor

     • Moderator: Warren Dale, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist,

          Fellow of the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress

2:30 p.m. — Reception in San Mateo County History Museum, second-floor Rotunda 

3:15-4 p.m. – Dramatic reading of a new film about human trafficking in our neighborhoods,

      Courthouse Square Stage. Tony Gapastione, film writer/director, has written a short film

      drama about a homeless man who witnesses a kidnapping and uncovers a dirty little

      secret in suburbia

Ongoing Events, 11 a.m. -5 p.m.

     • On the Courthouse Square: PEEP art container, resource groups/fair trade vendors,

          public engagement activities

     • Museum: Survivors and Friends art on exhibit, Rotunda

     • Survivors’ video stories and educational videos, Atkinson Room of the Museum

     •  Shop Heavenly Treasures

          Shop from a selection of many unique handiworks, jewelry and gifts

          Heavenly Treasures, a fair trade federation member, will be selling one of a

          kind items. By shopping at the Human Trafficking Awareness Day you help

          support job creation and increase economic opportunities for people living in

          poverty. Economic opportunity decreases their vulnerability to human trafficking.

          Each purchase results in economic opportunity, community programs, and job

          creation among those in need worldwide. Shopping Heavenly Treasures helps

          equip and assist people in developing countries to break the cycle of poverty

          through their own skills and creativity.

     • Decorate Quit Squares

          The public is invited to participate in our Quilts of Hope exhibit. Quilt squares will

          be available for the public to decorate with stamps and fabric paints. You can express

          messages of hope, words of encouragement or prayers for those recovering from

          human trafficking. These squares will be incorporated into quilts that will be gifted

          to trafficking survivors. At the event, Quilts of Hope volunteers will accept your

          donations of quilt fabric quarters or quilt squares.

Resource Exhibitors:

      • Communities Overcoming Relationship Abuse (CORA)

     • Information on Human Trafficking 101

     • SB1193 Poster Distribution

     • “No Traffic Ahead” Resolution

     • San Mateo County Human and Family Services Department

     • San Mateo County Foster Care Program

     • Help One Child

Redwood City city-wide art exhibit in downtown businesses for April 15-May 16.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.

Cost: FREE
Categories: **Annual Event**, *Top Pick*, Lectures & Workshops, Live Music, Peninsula, Shopping & Fashion, Theater & Performance