Past Events
March 23, 2013
Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth Encyclical)
50th Anniversary
This free working conference brought together faculty and students from Loyola with partners in Chicago who are collaborating to lessen violence and increase peace in our neighborhoods, city, nation and world. For more information, visit LUC.edu/pacem .
March 22, 2013
Loyola Public Interest Law Reporter Symposium 2013
Human Trafficking: A Growing International and Domestic Criminal Enterprise
Human trafficking—the recruiting, harboring, moving or obtaining of a person, by force, fraud, or coercion, for the purposes of involuntary servitude, debt bondage, or sexual exploitation—is the second largest and the fastest growing criminal industry in the world today. The industry generates billions in profits worldwide, and the United States has become a particularly active and profitable venue. This day-long symposium explored international and domestic sex trafficking and labor trafficking and the response needed to curb its growth.
September 10, 2012
Children's Rights Issue Briefing: "Raising Awareness: The Hidden Epidemic of Child Trafficking in the United States"
Keynote Speaker: Laurel Bellows, Esq., President, American Bar Association
Speakers:
- Honorable Virginia Kendall, Judge, Northern District of Illinois
- Katherine Kaufka Walts, JD, Director, Center for the Human Rights of Children, Loyola University Chicago
- Dr. Deborah Baskin, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Loyola University Chicago
The Center for the Human Rights of Children hosted a breakfast and informational briefing on the state of child trafficking in the United States. Speaker presentations covered systemic gaps, policies, current research, and promising practices.
June 18, 2012
Geneva Swizterland - CHRC/Young Center Alternative Report
CHRC Director, Katherine Kaufka Walts, participated in a pre-session meeting with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child to present findings and recommendations from the CHRC/Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights Alternative Report to the Periodic Report of the United States government to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Concerning the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Prostitution, and Pornography (OPSC). The Committee makes recommendations to governments to improve their efforts to stop the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. The CHRC/Young Center report focuses on sale of children for labor and labor trafficking in the United States.
The CHRC would like to thank students Natnael Moges (School of Law), and Catherine Lee (CAS, Psychology Dept) for their research and contributions to the alternative report.
[U.S. NGO delegates outside of the Office for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights]
June, 2012
The CHRC has moved!
The Center for the Human Rights of Children has moved from Loyola's Water Tower Campus to new offices on Lake Shore Campus in Rogers Park. We are now officially located in Loyola’s new Cuneo Hall. Loyola University is constantly strengthening its commitment to research centers and trying to better link the university’s capacity to address emerging issues in the broader community by bringing interdisciplinary teams closer together. Our new neighbors are other Loyola Centers of Excellence, including the Center for Urban Research and Learning and the Center for Urban Environmental Policy and Research.
Keep checking back for more information as we update our website, as well as an announcement for an open house at our new location!
April 16, 2012
Child Protection in Sub-Saharan Africa: Current trends, challenges and the way forward
Brigette De Lay, Child Protection Officer for UNICEF and Advisory Board Member of the Center for the Human Rights of Children (CHRC), visited Loyola University Chicago, in April, 2012. As a visiting scholar and child rights expert, Ms. Delay gave an evening lecture, titled, "Child Protection in Sub-Saharan Africa: Current trends, challenges and the way forward." Dr. Terry Northcut, Associate Professor at Loyola's School of Social Work and the CHRC's 2011 African Child Rights Fellow, discussed her work with Daniel Hailu on the project, "Psychosocial Support to Orphan and Vulnerable Children in Ethiopia - An Institutional Perspective."
You can access Brigette De Lay's bio HERE.
January 24, 2012
The Interrupters
Alex Kotlowitz discussed the changing face of urban poverty over the last twenty years.
November 4, 2011
WORKSHOP: Protecting Child Rights Through Multidisciplinary Forensics
Due to budget cuts and limited resources, many legal aid agencies and social service providers working with vulnerable children and youth are not able to retain experts to provide the essential assessments, evaluations, affidavits and testimony to advance their clients' cases (i.e., immigration, civil, or juvenile justice) and ensure that their rights are protected. In the majority of circumstances, these expert contributions play a vital role in the outcome of children's legal cases. Moreover, they are often critical in obtaining the necessary services for these children (e.g., appropriate education, medical or psychological treatment, and suitable care).
The purpose of this multidisciplinary workshop was to build the capacity of the professional community to better serve this population. It provided specialized, multidisciplinary training (i.e., medicine, mental health, education, and subject matter) on how to support children who are victims of discrimination, violence, trauma, and torture via subject matter expertise, use of expert witnesses in court, and forensic assessments and evaluations. The goal was to expand the multidisciplinary cadre of professionals who are available to assist legal advocates and service providers by offering the necessary services to advance the health, dignity, protection, and justice of vulnerable children (e.g., asylum cases, human trafficking victims, unaccompanied minors, victims of abuse/neglect, children with special needs, and juvenile justice cases).
Pictures of the Workshop
August 5, 2011
American Bar Association Annual Meeting
Katherine Kaufka Walts, Director of the CHRC, spoke at the ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada. The presentation was titled, "Child Trafficking Law, Policy and Practice Reform: U.S.-Canada Perspectives."
April 10-13, 2011
Dr. James Garbarino, CHRC Senior Faculty Fellow, was selected as the 2011 recipient of the Max Hayman Award for distinguished contributions to the study and elimination of genocide and other forms of political violence. A description of the Hayman Award can be found at http://aoatoday.com/award2.php, where brief descriptions of the work of recent recipients can also be found. The award was presented at the Third Greenville Family Symposium at University Center in Greenville, SC, on April 10-13, 2011. Sponsored by The American Orthopsychiatric Association (in tandem with the International Family Therapy Association and the International Society for child indicators).
March 4, 2011
The Loyola School of Social Work joined with the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, Jane Addams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the Depaul School of Social work to present a program on Human Trafficking, sponsored by the Illinois Field Director's Network.
Katherine Kaufka Walts, Director of the CHRC, participated as a panelist along with Charles Hounmenou, Ph.D. (a Visiting Research Specialist at the Jane Addams Center for Social Polic and Research at UIC) and Rachel Durchslag (Executive Director of the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation). As a panel, they presented their reactions to the IL Field Director's Network DVD regarding Human Trafficking, and led a discussion on human trafficking issues with attendees.
November 17, 2010
Dreams of Mexico: Independence, Revolution, and Contemporary Social Issues
The anniversaries of Mexico’s independence and revolution provide an excellent opportunity to explore the dynamic interaction between past and present, with particular attention to contemporary issues of migration, children, and human rights. "Dreams of Mexico" provides historical context for an examination of contemporary issues of concern: migration, families, child rights, and immigration.
As part of this week-long program, the Center for the Human Rights of Children hosted a panel titled, “Mexico: Child Rights and Contemporary Immigration Issues." Panelists included Dr. James Garbarino, CHRC Senior Faculty Fellow; Mary M. DeLorey, Strategic Issues Advisor for Latin America, Caribbean Region, Catholic Relief Services; and Ruiz Velasco, Director of Legal Services at the National Immigrant Justice Center. Topics addressed included application of the "best interest of the child" standards to immigration issues and policies in Mexico, the Dream Act, and the detention and repatriation of unaccompanied children in Mexico.
September 22-23, 2010
National Child Trafficking and Exploitation Conference
This year, the United States celebrated the 10thAnniversary of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. While the nation has made significant progress to eradicate human trafficking, children continue to be disproportionately underrepresented in identified cases. This demonstrates the need for a national, collaborative response to address the gaps in identification, protection, recovery, and prevention of child trafficking and exploitation. In September 2010, the Center hosted a conference to provide participants an opportunity to learn best practices, research, and scholarship on this issue, and to stimulate ongoing work and partnerships in the field to protect the rights of children, both citizens and non-citizens, impacted by human trafficking and exploitation in the United States.
Keynote Speakers: Anita Alvarez, Cook County States Attorney, Senator John Cullerton and Kelly Heinrich, Counsel, U.S. State Department, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
The Center is in the process of compiling information presented and discussed during the conference to publish an Outcome Document. The Outcome Document will address current issues, challenges, promising practices in the field, as well as suggest "action items" and next steps, and can hopefully be guide for future scholarship/research, collaboration, and networking on the issues of human trafficking and exploitation of children and youth in the United States. Please check back frequently to see updates, as the document will be posted on the Center's website.
Pictures of the CHRC Conference
June 2, 2010
Katherine Kaufka Walts, Director of the CHRC, spoke at the 2010 Human Trafficking Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. The presentation was titled, "Human Trafficking and Special Issues Concerning Children."
May 3-5, 2010
Katherine Kaufka Walts, Director of the CHRC, spoke at the 2010 Department of Justice National Conference on Human Trafficking in Arlington, Virginia. The presentation was titled, “Understanding Human Trafficking Prosecutions.”
April 30 and May 1, 2010
The Center for the Human Rights of Children and India Development Services (IDS) hosted an informative mini-symposium titled "India's Children: Preserving their Rights, Protecting their Future." It covered various human rights issues addressing India's most vulnerable children. Topics addressed included: "Empowering Street Children," "Protecting Children from Violence and Abuse," " Nutrition as Foundation for Education," "Juvenile Justice in India," and "Advancing Child Rights in India Through Youth Development and Education." Speakers included international representatives from CHILDLINE India, Butterflies of India, the Akshaya Patra Foundation, and distinguished Loyola University Chicago faculty from the Civitas ChildLaw Center and the School of Social Work. The moderator was Jerome McDonnell of WBEZ's "Worldview."
April 12-16, 2010
Water Colloquium
Loyola University Chicago's three campuses explored water issues during a week-long colloquium. The Center For Urban Environmental Research and Policy (CUERP) sponsored a series of events at the university, designed to raise awareness of issues associated with bottled water. The development of a global bottled water industry has inadvertently led to multiple issues of social, legal, environmental, ethical, political and economic concern regarding access to clean water. These issues have become prominent enough that there have been violent conflicts over water in developing countries where the privatization of water is being contested. This Water Colloquium was a response to student concerns about how the bottled water industry is impacting the privatization of water and exploiting communities in developing countries, as well as contributing to the increasingly large island of plastic deposited in the Atlantic Ocean.
February 25, 2010
Paul Tough
The Center for the Human Rights of Children jointly sponsored an interdisciplinary program, "Replicating the Harlem Children's Zone Model in Chicago" with the School of Law Street Law Program, the Civitas Child Law Center, the School of Education, the Psychology Department, the Public Health Program, the School of Social Work, and the Center for Urban Research and Learning. Paul Tough, New York Times Magazine Contributor and Author of "Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America" was present to give insight on the Harlem Children's Zone ("HCZ"), a 97-block laboratory in central Harlem where Geoffrey Canada is testing a new and sometimes controversial ideas about poverty in America.
President Barack Obama has called for the creation of “Promise Neighborhoods” nationwide, based on the HCZ model. This program allowed for an interdisciplinary group of Chicago experts to express their views and concerns on "what it would take" to replicate this program in Chicago.
Pictures of the Paul Tough Event February 15, 2010
The Center for the Human Rights of Children hosted a presentation titled, "Post-Communist Transition and Children's Educational Rights in Central/East Europe," presented by Dr. Noah W. Sobe, 2009 Faculty Fellow. This presentation addressed how educational guarantees and opportunities have changed in Central/East Europe in the post-communist period, focusing on the educational rights and access of minority populations, language of instruction, and recent democratization initiatives connected with the expansion of the European Union.
October
29-31, 2009
First Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking
“What We Know and What We Need to Know,” held at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. The purpose of this conference was to bring together researchers from all disciplines, in addition to government and non-governmental agencies active in anti-trafficking efforts, to develop a research agenda.
Ms. Kaufka Walts, Director of the CHRC, presented on “Improving U.S. Government Response to Child Trafficking.”
October 22, 2009
"Childhood Denied: International and Local Realities," hosted by the American Red Cross.
Held at Northeastern Illinois University from 7 – 8:30pm. This event explored issues facing children today with a panel of experts, including: Jimmie Briggs, educator and author of Innocents Lost: When Child Soldiers Go to War; the Director of the CHRC, Katherine Kaufka-Walts, national expert on child trafficking issues; and Maurice McFarlin, attorney and professor who has worked extensively with street organizations to prevent gang violence.
October 15, 2009
CHRC “Meet and Greet” Breakfast
In an effort to foster open collaboration with students and faculty throughout the university, the Director of the CHRC, Ms. Kaufka-Walts, hosted a breakfast to discuss Center activities to date, plans for future projects, and ways for faculty and students to collaborate with the Center. The goal of the breakfast was to work to help advance the Center's mission of coordinating and stimulating efforts of the University community to understand, protect and apply the human rights of children in the face of injustice and poverty of body, mind, and spirit.
September 29, 2009
The Center for the Human Rights of Children hosted a mini-symposium, “Immersion in Colombia: Interdisciplinary Reactions to Colombia's approach to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
Dr. Clemencia Ramirez Herrera, Director of Research at the Universidad de san Buenaventura in Bogota, Colombia was the keynote speaker. Also presenting were LUC graduate students from the fields of law, education and social work.
Pictures of the Mini-Symposium