On Wednesday, February 19, adjunct professor and Norwalk Hospital staff nurse Daniel Hughes MSN, RN, CEN, CNL’19 will present an educational lecture on human trafficking from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Egan School Rooms 103-104. The event is sponsored by the Egan School’s Mu Chi Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau, the nursing honor society.

In his lecture, Hughes will discuss human trafficking in the State of Connecticut and how it affects the community. He will highlight signs and red flags of potential human trafficking victims, identify the different types of trafficking, and discuss treatment and recovery options.

"For students at Fairfield University, it may be their first glimpse into this devastating human rights violation. For student nurses, it will place them on the cusp of an ever-growing problem and give them the tools they need to identify potential victims in actual practice," said Hughes. "It will also dispel the myth that 'it only happens in other countries' when, in fact, it happens right here in our own little towns."

Human trafficking is defined as a type of slavery in which victims are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of sex or forced labor. While there is no official estimate on the number of victims in the U.S., the Polaris Project, a nonprofit organization working to combat modern-day slavery, estimates that victims could number in the hundreds of thousands of minors and adults each year.

“Each year, the chapter offers an educational event for chapter members, however, this year because of the timeliness and the nature of the topic, we decided to extend the invitation to all disciplines, beyond nursing,” said Susan Bartos, assistant professor of nursing and president of the Mu Chi chapter. “Hosting an event focused on trafficking and continuing the conversation interprofessionally will in turn benefit our greater community by increasing knowledge and awareness of this societal and human concern.”