Sex trafficking in Nebraska next Science Cafe topic

Shireen Rajaram, Ph.D., an associate professor of health promotion, social and behavioral health in the College of Public Health at UNMC, will discuss sex trafficking in Nebraska at the next Omaha Science Cafe at 7 p.m. Sept. 6 at the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St.

Rachel Pointer	Sakura Yodogawa Campbell

Dr. Rajaram, and Sriyani Tidball, assistant professor of practice, College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, co-authored a report, “Nebraska Sex Trafficking Survivors Speak – A Qualitative Research Study” that was commissioned by the Women’s Fund of Omaha. Results from the study were used by the Women’s Fund to develop the booklet “Nothing About Us Without Us.”

Dr. Rajaram will be joined by Rachel Pointer and Sakura Yodogawa Campbell, two survivors of sex trafficking.

Pointer has a master’s degree in adult education with an emphasis on counseling and curriculum development. Her bachelor’s degree is in youth education with an emphasis on psychology. She spent several years working with children and families involved in the juvenile justice system and child protective services and currently is employed as a case manager for Omaha Home for Boys residential program.

Pointer is the co-founder of the Free the People Movement, a Nebraska counter-trafficking organization. She has turned her childhood tragedy into a victory by working with organizations across her home state to support anti-trafficking legislation, raise awareness of human trafficking, provide training to professionals, organize teams and events, and provide support for individuals seeking to escape from human trafficking situations.

Yodogawa Campbell is a crime victim advocate for the Sarpy County Victim Witness Unit. She is a member of the board of directors for the Nebraska Coalition for Victims of Crime and a volunteer for the Pixel Project, an international organization based in southeast Asia that uses the internet and social media to raise awareness and funds to end violence against women and girls worldwide.

Campbell has an associate degree in drama and speech and also in environmental science from Iowa Western Community College. She currently isworking toward her bachelor’s degree in women’s studies with a minor in Native American studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She speaks publicly about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse, child abuse, sexual assault/rape and sex trafficking in hopes of encouraging other survivors to speak out and break the stigma of being a victim.