Domestic Violence Awareness Month Book Club Focuses on the Tragedy of Human Trafficking

Posted: Oct 14, 2012 at 11:13 AM [Oct 14, 2012]

SafeHouse Center to host special appearance by Heather Neff, author of Leila: The Weighted Silence of Memory

Ann Arbor, MI -- On Tuesday, October 30, at 6 p.m., SafeHouse Center will commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month with a discussion and presentation by author Dr. Heather Neff and U-M Staff Attorney and human trafficking activist Elizabeth Campbell.  The featured book will be Leila: The Weighted Silence of Memory, a dark and mesmerizing tale of a young girl in modern-day Morocco sold into slavery in payment for her father’s debts.

 

“Human Trafficking is a significant issue in Washtenaw County,” says SafeHouse Center Executive Director Barabara Niess May. “It’s important to bring this issue to light, and Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) is the perfect time to do so. We’re very excited to be hosting this event, featuring two distinguished and accomplished women. It promises to be a lively and enlightening evening.”

The book has generated considerable excitement and notice from a wide range of audiences.  Detroit Free Press reviewer Cassandra Spratling praises it as a “heart-wrenching, yet ultimately satisfying journey from self loss to self love.” And EMU Professor of Anthropology and  Criminology Paul Leighton notes that, “While the setting may be unfamiliar, the tactics and justifications of Leila’s oppressors, as well as the physical and emotional scars they cause, exist across religions and nations.”

In addition to a reading by author Heather Neff, the DVAM Book Club event will also spotlight U-M Staff Attorney Elizabeth Campbell, part of the school’s Human Trafficking Clinic (HTC). The goal of HTC is to strengthen anti-trafficking laws in this country and to support government officials, law enforcement agencies, and practitioners working on behalf of human trafficking victims. In 2011, the clinic launched the Human Trafficking Law Project, which maintains the first publicly available database of human trafficking cases within the United States.

This event is open to the public. Copies of Leila are available for loan at the Ann Arbor District Library and the Eastern Michigan University Library and for purchase at Barnes and Noble and through Amazon.com.

 

The event will be held at SafeHouse Center, located at 4100 Clark Road in Ann Arbor. Those interested in participating should RSVP to andreaf@safehousecenter.org by Tuesday, October 23.  Questions can be directed to Vickie at (734) 973-0242, extension 204.

“Violence against women is an unresolved issue in our community,” says Niess-May. “This event is an opportunity for the community to learn more about the far-reaching impact and to join with us in trying to stop the violence.”

SafeHouse Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation in Washtenaw County, Michigan.  As a social change and social service organization dedicated to ending gender-based violence, SafeHouse Center provides 24-hour-a-day response to survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and works to educate local communities about what they can do to end domestic/dating violence and sexual assault.

 

For more information about domestic/dating violence and sexual assault, please call our 24-hour helpline at 734-995-5444.  Anyone  interested in volunteering at SafeHouse Center is invited to call Carly Corpolongo-Davis at 734-973-0242 x252.  To make a donation, contact Julaine LeDuc at 734-973-0242 x273.