Lecture Wednesday on human slave trade

MEADVILLE, Pa. -- Kevin Bales, president of the nonprofit organization Free the Slaves, will present a free public lecture titled "Human Trafficking: Slavery in America Today" at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Ford Chapel.
After the lecture, Bales will be available to sign his book "Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy."
He also will appear as a guest lecturer in a black studies class.
According to Free the Slaves, it is estimated that nearly 900,000 people are trafficked as slaves internationally each year and about 20,000 end up as slaves in the United States. Many of the victims are forced to work in agriculture, prostitution or as domestic servants.
Bales is the professor of sociology at University of Surrey Roehampton in London and has also served as a consultant to the United Nations on slavery and human trafficking.
He previously served as chief research officer for BBC Interactive Television Unit, and as director and co-founder of Pell and Bales, Ltd., now Britian's largest charity fund-raising company.