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Event
End the Demand: An Anti-Human Trafficking Forum
The Whatcom Coalition Against Trafficking is bringing this educational event to Whatcom County with the goal of presenting new information and perspective around the topic of sex trafficking. This event is sponsored by WECU, the Washington Education Credit Union and Mt. Baker Theatre.
Speakers:
Dr. Debra Boyer, PhD. Cultural Anthropologist and Affiliate Assistant UW Professor
Peter Qualliotine, Co-Founder & Director of Men's Accountability and the co-founder of the Organization for Prostitution Survivors(OPS), a Seattle based group dedicated to stopping the harm of commercial sexual exploitation
Aaron Newcomb, Co-Founder of the Engedi Refuge Ministries and Men of Dignity.
Speaker Bios:
Debra Boyer is a Cultural Anthropologist in private practice and Executive Director of the Organization for Prostitution Survivors in Seattle. She has over 25 years experience as the Principal Investigator of studies on runaway and homeless youth, urban street subcultures, sexually exploited adolescents, adult prostitution and criminal behavior, adolescent pregnancy, and women's reproductive health. Dr. Boyer's current work focuses on ethnographic methods to inform policy and practice. She recently completed two studies on Homeless Street Populations, and is the author of Who Pays the Price: An Assessment of Youth Involvement in Prostitution in Seattle. Dr. Boyer is an advocate for children's causes. She is the Founder of the Committee for Children, which develops and supports implementation of abuse prevention and social and emotional learning curricula. These curricula are implemented in 25,000 school districts in the United States and in twenty-six countries. Dr. Boyer is currently on the board of directors for Committee for Children.
Peter Qualliotine is the co-founder of the Organization for Prostitution Survivors(OPS), a Seattle based group dedicated to stopping the harm of commercial sexual exploitation. He became actively engaged with this issue in the early 1990s as a volunteer for the Portland, Oregon based Council for Prostitution Alternatives. In 1994 he founded the Sexual Exploitation Education Project (SEEP), an innovative non-profit organization with the mission of promoting men's accountability in stopping violence against women and children. As program coordinator of SEEP, Peter collaborated with the staff of the Portland Women's Crisis Line in developing an innovative prevention curriculum for middle and high school students on the issues of sexual harassment; acquaintance and date rape; dating and domestic violence and commercial sexual exploitation. Peter recruited and trained male volunteers to co-present the curriculum to 4,000 students per year in schools throughout Multnomah County alongside women from the Crisis Line. In 1995, SEEP started one of the first intervention programs in the nation for buyers of commercial sex. Peter designed the curriculum and served as lead facilitator for this ground breaking "john school", an innovative 17-hour experiential education workshop which addressed the demand side of the prostitution problem through the lens of men's accountability. In 2012 Peter left his position as Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE) training coordinator for YouthCare's Bridge Program in Seattle to start OPS. Peter is co-author of the report "Comparing Sex Buyers with Men Who Don't Buy Sex" for the San Francisco based non-profit organization, Prostitution Research & Education (PRE).
Aaron Newcomb, and his wife Lea, are the founders of Engedi Refuge Ministries. Engedi Refuge provides a safe-house and restoration program for female survivors of sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. It was established in Whatcom County, WA and serves the entire Northwest region of the U.S. Aaron has been engaged in fighting human trafficking, researching best practices for holistic victim care, and championing the cause to "End the Demand" for commercialized sex trafficking for nearly seven years. Aaron and Lea have dedicated their lives to providing comprehensive care for trafficking survivors. They left their home and Aaron's construction business in Oklahoma over three years ago to research the modern commercial sex industry, the lives of victims, and the methods used to care for their needs. He and Lea have successfully developed and implemented the most effective, long term restoration program for adult female survivors in the Northwest. Aaron is a member of the Whatcom County CSEC Task Force, The Whatcom Coalition Against Trafficking, and works alongside Hope-4-Justice and hosts "Men of Dignity" in an effort to help bring awareness to the Whatcom community about sex trafficking and to promote initiatives to combat it.
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LocationMt. Baker Theatre-Encore Room Free Parking on Saturdays (View)
112 West Champion Street
Bellingham, WA 98225-4408
United States
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Categories
| Minimum Age: 13 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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