Office of the Governor Hosts Anti-Human Trafficking Event | Eastern North Carolina Now

    News Release:

Program will feature breakout sessions and speech by Kenneth Morris Jr., descendant of abolitionist Frederick Douglass

    Raleigh, NC     In 2013, Governor Pat McCrory signed into law a bill that increased criminal penalties for human trafficking and related crimes. It also preserved the state's human trafficking commission. He also signed a law adding human trafficking to the list of criminal convictions that require registration under the s ex offender and public protection registration program.

    "We must do all we can to prevent vulnerable people from falling victim to these acts of evil and rightly punish offenders," Governor McCrory said.

    One of the aims of S.B. 683 is to create a safe harbor for victims of human trafficking and for prostituted minors.

    In order to raise awareness of human trafficking, the Governor's Office of Community and Constituent Affairs, the Department of Administration's Council for Women, AT&T and the Governor's Crime Commission will host a day-long event to help address this injustice.

    The event will take place on March 31 from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Hope Community Church, 821 Buck Jones Road, Raleigh, NC 27606. Middle school, high school, college students and adults are encouraged to attend.

    Kenneth B. Morris Jr., great-great-great grandson of Frederick Douglass and the great-great grandson of Booker T. Washington, will be the keynote speaker. Morris is the founder of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives, an abolitionist organization that considers human trafficking the 21st-century equivalent of slavery.

    For more information or to register, please visit the Council for Women site. Registration is open until March 26 or when the venue reaches capacity.


    Contact: Crystal Feldman
       govpress@nc.gov