Livingston, NJ March 10, 2015 – The National Council of Jewish Women, Essex County Section (NCJW/Essex) will present a special evening event, Dessert and Dialogue on Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 7:00 pm, featuring nationally renowned speaker Lauren Hersh, Director of Anti-Trafficking and Advocacy at Sanctuary for Families. Sanctuary for Families is New York’s leading service provider and advocate for survivors of domestic violence, sex trafficking and related forms of gender violence. The program will be held at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, located at 102 South Orange Avenue, Short Hills, NJ.
Ms. Hersh will discuss “Combatting Sex Trafficking in New Jersey, the United States and Beyond,” bringing her broad experience to the topic. Before her position at Sanctuary for Families, Ms. Hersh was the New York Director of Equality Now and prior to that served as the chief prosecutor of the sex trafficking unit at the Brooklyn district attorney’s office.
This evening event is the first program sponsored by the Essex County Section in support of EXODUS, NCJW’s Anti-Sex Trafficking initiative which aims to create important social change through supporting the passage and enforcement of federal and state laws that prevent sex trafficking, protect its victims and survivors, and punish its perpetrators. Ms. Hersh is one of the country’s foremost experts on human trafficking and was recently featured in the PBS documentary, “A Path Appears,” which takes viewers on a journey across the country and across the globe to drive home the universality of gender inequality and the roots of vulnerability.
For more than one hundred years, NCJW/Essex has worked tirelessly for social justice by improving the quality of life for women, children and families and by safeguarding individual rights and freedoms. NCJW/Essex is committed to help combat the extensive – and under-recognized – trafficking happening in the United States and in our own backyards. This Dessert and Dialogue is a first and necessary step toward raising awareness.
“Combatting Sex Trafficking in New Jersey, the United States and Beyond” is being co-sponsored by the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking, the Community Relations Committee of Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ, Temple Emanu-El of West Essex Sisterhood, and the Rachel Coalition.
Pre-registration is required. Program fee is $15 and includes coffee, tea and desserts. To register, please call 973-740-0588 or visit www.ncjwessex.org.