Manor College's petitions seek sanctions for trafficking in women

JENKINTOWN, Pa. - Concerned about the increasing problem of international trafficking in women, the administration and staff of Manor College is collecting signatures on a petition that calls on the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) to attach the same international sanctions currently held for drug traffickers to their proposed penalties against trafficking in women.

The petition was a direct result of a recent symposium held at Manor College on the problem of the international trafficking in women. Accodring to Manor College officials, Very little information is available about this situation and much more needs to be done to expose this terrible crime. "We are extremely upset and concerned about this new form of slavery, especially the trafficking of Ukrainian women," said Christina Prokopovych, curator of the Ukrainian Heritage Studies Center at Manor College.

The symposium was opened by the college's executive vice-president and dean of academic affairs, Sally Mydlowec, who introduced Ulana Mazurkevich, president of the Ukrainian Human Rights Committee. Ms. Mazurkevich gave a brief synopsis of the results of trafficking in women and spoke about measures in the U.S. Congress to attack this problem. Excerpts from the film "Bought and Sold" were also shown.

Ms. Mazurkevich has long been involved in the defense of human rights, having served on the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine. She presented a three-volume set of the Oral History Project of the Commission on the Ukraine Famine to Sister Mary Cecilia Jurasinski OSBM, president of Manor College.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 11, 2000, No. 24, Vol. LXVIII

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