The secret world of human trafficking is the new topic of a series of workshops at St. Edward’s University this fall.

Professors Kay Burrough and Mity Myhr will begin teaching a series of eight three-hour workshops on the topic of modern-day slavery. The course has 14 interns, and all of the sections total 900 students who are currently enrolled in Cultural Foundations classes.

The purpose of the interactive workshops is to help people understand modern slavery and to look at solutions to the problem.

The guest professor of the series, Burrough, recently undertook and documented the diet of an Indian farmer.

“I took on this diet because if I am going to teach my students about Indian farmers in debt bondage, I feel that it is important that I understand and empathize with what it is like to be like an Indian farmer,” Burrough said.

The workshops will discuss human rights, advocating for change and educating students on modern-day enslavement, poverty and the lives of street children.

In the world today, there are approximately 27 million slaves and 100 million street children. The term “street children” refers to youths, generally between the ages of five and 17 years old, who live on the streets of urban areas and do not have access to the health care, family structure, and protection of those with homes. Many of these children are incredibly vulnerable and highly susceptible to being snared by the sex-trafficking industry and enslaved.

“It is likely that between 18 to 24 hours, a young runaway girl would be approached by a pimp,” Burrough said.

In addition to the human trafficking workshops, Myhr and Burrough will be showcasing a film series on human trafficking.

One of the featured films, Bought and Sold, includes interviews with traffickers, members of the Russian mafia, female victims and human rights advocates in the former Soviet Republics. The two-year investigative documentary exhibits the truth about the prevalence of modern-day enslavement.

Born into Brothels is the 2004 Academy Award winner for best documentary. The film centers on several children struggling with poverty in Calcutta, where their mothers are prostitutes. The documentary follows these children as they are guided by Zana Briski, a photographer from New York, and are given opportunities to find bright futures and view the world from a fresh perspective. The workshop will be featuring this film on Oct. 13.

“Dr. Myhr and I decided the films would be very useful, in terms of offering the issue of human trafficking and enslavement from a different perspective,” Burrough said. “The first step is awareness and the second is offering solutions.”

The workshops will also present guest speakers, including Judy Westwater, Ron Soodalter and Kay Burrough.

Burrough will be an observer delegate attending the United Nations General Assembly Meeting, and will talk about her experiences during the meeting on Oct. 5.

Judy Westwater, a former “street child,” will also speak at the meeting and attend a banquet in her honor on Oct. 19. The event will provide dinner with a five-dollar donation.

All donations and proceeds of the banquet will be awarded to the Pegasus Children’s Trust, an organization created and run by Westwater which houses, clothes, educates and feeds 4,000 orphaned children. The organization gives opportunities to children who would otherwise live on the street

Westwater’s organization has sparked an interest in St. Edward’s students to study abroad in South Africa and work closely with the Pegasus Children’s Trust for 2011-2012.

Hitting a little closer to home, on Dec. 1, there will be a panel discussing involvement in rescuing and protecting people that have fallen into trafficking and enslavement in Texas.

“I believe it is incredibly important that the community has an opportunity to know of what is going on around them, and then, we can speak up,” student Callie Ogden said.

In December, the workshop will also be hosting a craft fair for the holiday season. They will be selling slave-labor-free and ethically made goods in the Ragsdale Lobby.

“I have spent my whole life being an advocate,” Burrough said. “It is about being a mouthpiece; being the person that speaks for those who cannot speak as strongly and as eloquently as we can.”