News

Human Trafficking Awareness Event This Saturday
By Tyler Beckett

Lee University will host Defend the Cause this Saturday, March 16, at 6:30 p.m. at the Church Street Annex.

A night of awareness, worship, and prayer in effort to end human trafficking, Defend the Cause will feature guest speakers Jerry Redman and Tim Passmore.

“Everything in the fight against sex trafficking begins with awareness,” said Redman. “Although awareness alone is not enough, it is key to creating collaborative action on the issue and that action must happen at every level of society where concerned citizens come together to provide hope and recovery for victims and create communities free from this crime.”

Human trafficking has taken on many forms in southeast Tennessee, including international trafficking, trafficking involving locals, people being transported through local hubs for trafficking, and children being used for sexual purposes and profit.

“Government alone will not solve this problem,” continued Redman. “It is a problem that affects us all and therefore requires a response from each of us in order to end it.”

Redman is the Managing Senior Partner at Second Life of Chattanooga, a non-profit dedicated to fighting human sex trafficking in Chattanooga and the surrounding region. The organization seeks to provide local communities with the means to respond to and end sex trafficking occurring in their towns.

Passmore, who currently works for the City of Cleveland and writes for the Cleveland Daily Banner and Chattanooga Times Free Press, has dedicated years to research in the areas of human rights, terrorism, and international conflict. He is a former instructor of international relations and politics at Lee and a 2006 Lee graduate. While a student there, Passmore served as president of the campus chapter of the International Justice Mission.

Defend the Cause has been planned by the students of Sarah Brandenburg’s Foundations of Benevolence course at Lee.

The event is free and open to the public. An offering will be taken to help fight trafficking in the region. Refreshments and follow-up information will be available afterwards.

For more information, please contact Sarah Brandenburg at [email protected] or (423) 614-8137.