Mercer organizes conference to fight sex trade

A push by Mercer University, churches, synagogues and mosques in Macon to stop sex trafficking is spreading.

The university’s conference on battling the sex trade March 19 and 20 has attracted more than 700 attendees from around the Southeast, many from religious organizations.

The push got some inspiration from Atlanta, where Mayor Shirley Franklin has spearheaded a drive to fight sex trafficking, which often preys on foreign women and children brought to the U.S. on the pretext of finding jobs, the organizers say.

A class at Mercer that all freshmen must take on character and conscience development led first to a local fight against the 20-plus massage parlors in Macon in 2008 and then to the conference, said Andrew Silver, a professor.

The university and other organizations help women in the area through offering a safe house for living and other services. The Baptist-founded university will also send a medical team to Thailand, notorious as a center for the sex trade, this summer. They will work for three weeks with organizations that help women escape the business.

Sex trafficking has attracted the attention of many religious leaders in the last year, and volunteers from churches such as Duluth’s Perimeter Church have taken a lead in working with governments and aid groups to fight sex trafficking.

Information at www.mercer.edu/stop/