Bill Woolf, Executive Director, The Just Ask Trafficking Prevention Foundation, will speak at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly Annual Session in Luxembourg on July 6. He will participate in a panel discussion entitled Prevention 101: Educating Schoolchildren on Trafficking Traps. Mr. Woolf will join Kenneth D. Morris, co-Founder, and President of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, and Philip Hyldgaard, Senior Operating Director, A21.

The invitation to participate was extended by U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), who serves as Special Representative on Human Trafficking for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

Press Release

McLean, Virginia (July 1, 2019) – Bill Woolf, executive director, The Just Ask Trafficking Prevention Foundation, is scheduled to speak at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly Annual Session in Luxembourg on July 6.

Woolf will participate in a three-person panel discussion entitled Prevention 101: Educating Schoolchildren on Trafficking Traps. Scheduled to join Woolf on the panel are Kenneth B. Morris, co-Founder, and President of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, and Philip Hyldgaard, Senior Operating Director, A21. Woolf was invited to participate on the panel by Congressman Christopher Smith (R-NJ), who serves as the Special Representative on Human Trafficking for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was established in 1973 and is the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization with 57 participating states and 11 partners for cooperation. Actions by the OSCE against human trafficking are coordinated by the Office of the Special Representative and Coordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings.

“I am thrilled to be joining Congressman Chris Smith in Luxembourg at the Annual OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Session, along with my colleagues from A21 and the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives,” said Woolf. “This is an important opportunity for us to share with leaders from around the world the significance of prevention curriculum in safeguarding our communities and children from the threat of human trafficking. Just Ask has been working for the past six years to develop a comprehensive, life-saving prevention curriculum that currently reaches more than 160,000 youth in three countries. We believe in the power of partnership in the prevention of this crime and look forward to doing our part in eradicating human trafficking.”

How does OSCE and its Annual Session relate to human trafficking?

It is a profound fact that one of the resolutions OSCE PA members will consider at the Annual Session supports the goal of eradicating human trafficking.  This resolution is entitled “Educating Schoolchildren to Avoid Human Trafficking.” Representative Christopher Smith; from New Jersey’s 47th Congressional District, is the principal sponsor of this resolution.

Rep. Smith is actively involved in fighting human trafficking.  Re. Smith authored the 2016 International Megan’s Law which prevents child exploitation, and other sexual crimes advanced notification of traveling sex offenders, as well as the foundational U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 and its 2003 and 2005 reauthorizations. Because of his impressive track record in this topic, Rep. Smith co-chairs the United States Congressional Human Trafficking Caucus.

Source:  https://chrissmith.house.gov/

Does Just Ask play a role with the OSCE PA?

You bet it does! Our Executive Director, Bill Woolf, will be an active participant in the Annual Session.  Bill will appear on a panel alongside representatives of two other anti-trafficking nonprofits, the A21 Campaign and the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives (FDFI) and Rep. Smith will host the panel. Bill will share Just Ask’s successes with panel attendees who are legislators from around the world, our lessons learned, and why human trafficking prevention education is important because the ultimate goal is that his presentation will lead to Just Ask’s ability to implement our curriculum in other countries.

Just Ask’s participation in the OSCE PA Annual Session and the partnerships we will build while we are there will open up new avenues and opportunities to reach our goal of defeating human trafficking.

GO BILL!!