THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO SEPT. 10:
Human trafficking has victimized more than 8,000 people in Michigan over the last decade alone. The U.P. Human Trafficking Task Force and the Zonta Club of Marquette Area will screen "Ring of Silence," a dramatic film about the epidemic, at Northern Michigan University. A panel of local experts will participate in a Q&A session immediately afterward.
The free event begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 23, at the NMU Northern Center. The film will start at 6:15 p.m.
"Ring of Silence" is rated PG-13. It was created to passionately tell the stories of countless victims that have been trapped, bought and sold into the underground world of human sex trafficking. Director Nicole Bowers Wallace calls it "the film everyone needs to see." Audiences are able to witness the signs, terror and manipulation that the business entails.
"One scene takes place at a Christmas party, where people are enjoying the celebrations while trafficking is happening in other rooms," Wallace wrote. "It is a metaphor for society: trafficking happens in our local schools, local sports events, local truck stops and yet most of us are unaware. Worst of all, our teens are unaware."
The local screening is additionally sponsored through grants from the Community Foundation of Marquette County and Eagle Mine, as well as donations from NMU President Fritz Erickson, NMU's criminal justice program and NMU Chief of Police Mike Bath.