four arms holding wads of money out in their hands

Anti-Trafficking International (ATI) to Host Free Webinar with Global Expert About Targeting Buyers of Sex

Washington, D.C.—ATI will host an online event, What About the Buyers? Fighting Human Trafficking by Fighting Demand, for the public and professionals on Thursday, December 16, 2021 at 10:00 AM EST. Valiant (Val) Richey, a global expert on human trafficking, will address why we should focus on demand to stop sex trafficking, how to understand buyers, what states need to do to address demand, and how the United States compares to other countries focusing on demand.

To register for this free online event, visit: https://www.PreventHT.org/events.

Human trafficking is built on the economic theory of supply and demand: buyers make the commercial sex market profitable and traffickers capitalize on this market, putting children in our communities and all over the world at risk of being trafficked every day. What if we could reduce the threat of trafficking by preventing buyers from participating in this market?

“A lot of attention has been focused on victims and survivors of sex trafficking, but the buyers are often overlooked,” explains Kristine Grow, Team Leader of ATI’s Let’s Talk Community Outreach and Engagement Program, which partners with experts in the field to present an in-depth discussion on varied topics related to human trafficking via a free quarterly webinar series. “Reducing demand and making sex trafficking less profitable will lead traffickers to find other ways to make money. And fewer people—particularly vulnerable women and children—will suffer this horrible form of abuse.”

Richey is the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Representative and Coordinator for Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings. He represents OSCE at the political level on anti-trafficking issues and assists the 57 OSCE participating States in the development and implementation of anti-trafficking strategies and initiatives. His office also serves a coordinating function among OSCE structures and institutions involved in combatting trafficking in human beings. Before joining OSCE, Val worked for thirteen years as a Seattle prosecutor, handling sexual assault, child exploitation, and human trafficking cases. He has a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Political Science from Boston University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Washington.

About Anti-Trafficking International

ATI is a 501(c)(3) volunteer-driven organization focused on ending human trafficking in the U.S. and around the world. To learn more, visit https://www.PreventHT.org.

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