Award-winning activist, author, and speaker Maria Riley, OP, will present “The Social & Economic Impact of Trafficking” on Wednesday, October 18, at 7 p.m. in Lynch Hall Auditorium on Seton Hill’s Greensburg, Pa. campus. This presentation is free and open to the public and is presented by the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in collaboration with the People Against the Trafficking of Humans (PATH).

Trafficking in human persons is the third largest criminal trading system in the world. Only trade in illegal drugs and illegal arms are greater. Statistics show that millions of people are involved in this modern day slavery, resulting in billions in profits. Women and children are most vulnerable to traffickers, usually because of poverty, violence, civil and ethnic conflict, and wars.

Maria Riley is an Adrian Dominican sister and member of the research staff and coordinator of the Global Women’s Project at the Center of Concern in Washington, DC. In “The Social & Economic Impact of Trafficking” she will examine the structural causes of the illegal trade in women and children, and suggest ways to address these causes. Her awards include the 1996 NETWORK “Women of Justice” award and the Adrian Dominican Educational Leadership Award in recognition of her international leadership in the promotion of justice and peace. With the Center of Concern, she received the 2002 Interaction Mildred Robbins Leet Award for the Advancement of Women.

In an effort to reach more people in the western Pennsylvania region, PATH is offering this presentation at two locations and times. Riley will first speak at 9 a.m. on October 18 at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Auditorium, located at the Felician Sisters Motherhouse in Coraopolis, Allegheny County. Both presentations are free and open to the public. Directions to these sites are available at www.felicianspa.org and www.setonhill.edu.

For more information about either event or PATH, please contact Sister Jean Murin, RSM, at 412-578-6304, Sister Edith Strong, SC, at 724-836-0406, ext. 616, or Sister M. Christopher Moore, CSSF, at 412-262-5990.

People Against the Trafficking of Humans is a committee of the Tri-Diocesan Sisters Leadership Council (TDSLC) that locally represents 18 communities of women religious. Their goals are to increase public awareness and educate the public about the problem of trafficking, both locally and globally, while working to stop this abuse through prayer, education, and influencing public policy. This is the third year that PATH has sponsored educational presentations in the western Pennsylvania region.

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Media contact:

Susan M. Isola, Director of Public Relations, Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill
724-836-0406, x613 / sisola@scsh.org