Alison Fisher '08 (Medina, Wash.) became aware of the depth of the problem of sex trafficking after a friend returned from a trip to Thailand and brought up the issues. Fisher became "blown away by the magnitude of this subject" and applied for and received an Emerson grant in collaboration with Associate Professor of Sociology Stephen Ellingson to pursue research on the topic this summer. Fisher's project is titled "People for Sale: Modern Day Slavery in America."
In her research proposal, Fisher writes that sex trafficking is a global phenomenon. "This issue is one of the most hideous and widespread human rights violations across the globe." In the United States, 50,000 women and children are trafficked into the country every year from about 50 different countries. Fisher will be conducting research in order to uncover the depth and expanse of this issue globally and locally, using her home city of Seattle as a case study. Seattle is an appropriate choice because it is one of America's largest urban centers or human trafficking due to its Canadian border and ports.
For the first month of her project, Fisher will do research using literature, including archival literature, Congressional and Senatorial reports, information from Health and Human Services and news reports. Then, she plans to begin conducting personal interviews with people who work directly or indirectly with issues related to human trafficking, including Sheryl Garland, former president of Washington Women Lawyers; Linda Smith, Congresswoman and founder of Shared Hope International; and Darin Christianson, a Washington attorney who works with organizations for relief efforts. Fisher is particularly interested in the legal and political action being taken in the U.S. against human trafficking and plans to speak with several lawyers about the issue. "Washington has been very progressive with passing laws, but they haven't really been pursued," she said. "I want to find out what needs to be done in terms of protecting victims and prosecuting offenders."
Fisher will also be volunteering at Shared Hope International, a rescue house that offers protective and restorative services to victims to gain insight into the process of running a rescue house and an understanding of how effective the relief efforts are.
Fisher's main goal for her research is "not only to learn about procedures that are being taken to stop trafficking and protect victims, but to measure the effectiveness of steps being taken and see what part of American culture is helping or hindering these measures."
Fisher anticipates that the most challenging part of the project will be the personal interviews . "It will be easy for people to spout out statistics," she said, "but I want to get more in depth."
"I can guarantee that this research will undoubtedly serve as groundwork for my career," writes Fisher in her project proposal. Fisher plans to pursue a law degree after graduating from Hamilton and use it to help in the efforts to solve the problem of human trafficking in the United States. This research "definitely relates to what I want to do," said Fisher.
-- by Laura Trubiano '07
