Elizabeth Smart, Utah child abduction survivor, is scheduled to speak on Thursday evening January 10, 2013 at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey.
Smart was taken from her bed in June of 2002 and rescued nine months later in a community 18 miles from her home. Now married, Smart shares her story of survival and hope with others. She also advocates the importance of awareness.
Sponsored by the nine Rotary Clubs of Thurston County, in partnership with Capstone Investments, South Sound Bank, and the two area Zonta Clubs, Elizabeth Smart will join Olympia resident Rani Hong – the United Nations spokesperson for Human Trafficking—as they jointly share an important message of hope and survival and urge the community to continue to protect children and others against exploitation and abuse. Proceeds from this event will benefit local programs and The Tronie Foundation to support exploited and trafficked survivors in Southeast Asia.
Rani Hong, founder of the Olympia-based Tronie Foundation and Special Advisor to the United Nations, is a survivor of human trafficking and one of the world’s leading voices in the fight against modern-day slavery.
At the age of seven, Rani was recruited into the slave trade in India. By age eight, her physical condition and emotional state were so dire that she was near death. No longer of any value to her slave owner, she was sold into illegal adoption. Rani was adopted into a stable American home in Washington State, where she began to find healing and a sense of personal freedom. She was finally reunited with her mother in 1999, and began her advocacy work against human trafficking.
Rani Hong is married with four children, has appeared on the Oprah show and mentors survivors of slavery. Rani and her husband (also a human trafficking survivor) are activists in the movement to end human trafficking and exploitation.
Elizabeth Smart knows what it is like to be a missing child. She knows how it feels to think that one false move may lead to her death or that of her family. Nobody can ever blame a child for their actions when they are being threatened, bullied, forced, or coerced into doing something unthinkable. In the wake of her terrible experience, she established the “Elizabeth Smart Foundation” to prevent future crimes against children.
Prior to the evening program, parents, school staff, and law enforcement will participate in a Resource and Information Fair on January 10th from 1 to 6pm at the Saint Martin’s University Worthington Conference Center. Sponsored by the Olympia area Zonta clubs and WA Engage, the Resource and Information Fair will feature experts from the Washington State Patrol Missing and Exploited Children, the FBI, Rick Scott – lead investigator for the Lindsey Baum case —and other leading experts about state of the art methods to keep children safe in an era of Facebook, Twitter, and internet relationships. Policy leaders and community activists will provide parents, educators, and policy leaders with information from more than forty organizations and agencies.
The afternoon fair is free to the public and will be open from 1-6 pm at Saint Martin’s University Worthington Center.
Local law enforcement agencies will be on hand to offer fingerprinting and retina scans of children.
Rani Hong pointed out that “we must be pro-active in our efforts to keep all children safe and to increase our awareness about risk factors.” Hong went on to point out that much remains to be done in the area of public policy, education, and law enforcement as it relates to these crimes. “There are different forms of human trafficking and that we must remain alert at all times. “If we see something, we must be willing to report it,” Hong said.
In an August 2011 interview with The Deseret newspaper, Lt. Sally Lannom with the Dallas Police Department’s child abuse unit said that Smart has shown a lot of courage in telling her story. “The fact that this is someone who lived to tell about it helps so we can see there is hope,” she said. Smart’s appearance also helps other victims see that they can move forward with their lives, Davis said. “So many people ask us once a child is abused, aren’t they a victim for the rest of their lives? We say no,” he said. “For someone like Elizabeth Smart to come and talk about the hope and the healing is a wonderful thing for the (community).”
Tickets are available for sale online by visiting the website for The Community Foundation South Puget Sound at: http://thecommunityfoundation.com. Tickets cost $15 for students & seniors and $20 for general admission. Doors will open at 6:30 pm for the evening keynote program.
