Wichita State鈥檚 Center for Combating Human Trafficking will host and participate in events as part of the 2018 Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
CCHT will host LOVE NOT LOCKUP: A Documentary Screening of One Survivor鈥檚 Story followed by discussion with Producer Dan Birman and Kansas Civic Leaders at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 25, at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex.
The documentary is titled 鈥淢e Facing Life: Cyntoia鈥檚 Story.鈥� Birman and CCHT staff, along with Kansas Civic Leaders, will discuss how Cyntoia鈥檚 story can serve as an instrument of change for countless others across America. Leaders will explore critical conversations regarding the criminalization of individuals who have survived sex trafficking.
鈥淚 am proud that we have Kansas Civic Leaders who are committed to acting as humble explorers and servants in order to strengthen our anti-trafficking responses,鈥� said Karen Countryman-Roswurm, CCHT executive director. 鈥淲e have come a long way in addressing trafficking in Kansas, but the reality is that our response to actual victims and survivors has not widely improved. It is only through relational responses that our community will see survivors of sex trafficking overcome their trauma and become the people they were created to be.鈥�
The event is free and open to the public.
CCHT will also host their fourth annual anti-trafficking conference, 鈥淏reaking Down Barriers: Understanding the Complexity of Human Trafficking鈥� on Friday Jan. 26 at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex.
The conference is designed to engage multidisciplinary professionals, civic leaders, faith leaders and interested community members in anti-trafficking efforts. The conference will feature a diverse group of experts in the field of human trafficking who will cover a variety of topics in a number of different breakout sessions. Two nationally renowned keynote speakers will also be in attendance, Judge Catherine Pratt and Judge Robert Lung. Special guests and awardees will be honored for their work to combat abuse and exploitation.
Registration is required for this event.
CCHT will also participate in events hosted by the Greater Wichita Ministerial League on Jan. 4 and the Wichita Women in Health Professions on Jan. 23.
The Center for Combating Human Trafficking (CCHT) is a team of survivor-leaders and long-term multidisciplinary professionals who represent more than ten decades of combined personal, direct practice, advocacy, and research expertise in the Anti-Trafficking Movement. Together, we are committed to empowering the nation鈥檚 capacity to provide effective prevention, assessment, identification, intervention, restoration, and aftercare/prosperity promoting responses to survivors of abuse and exploitation. In 2017 alone, CCHT has reached over 10,000 people with training and technical assistance, 1,454 youth with prevention education, and provided 129 hours of survivor support services.
The mission of is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. Wichita State is a doctoral research university enrolling nearly 15,000 students and offering 59 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in seven undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers 45 master鈥檚 and 12 doctoral degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas. is an interconnected community of partnership buildings, laboratories and mixed-use areas where students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the university鈥檚 vast resources and technology. For more information, follow us on Twitter at and Facebook at .