Gretchen Carlson will be the keynote speaker at Wichita State University’s Center for Combating Human Trafficking annual conference on Friday.
Carlson, former co-host of “Fox & Friends,” helped to herald in the #MeToo movement when she sued former Fox CEO Roger Ailes in 2016 for sexual harassment.
The 2019 movie “Bombshell” is based on her experiences at Fox. This year’s conference theme is “Be the Bombshell: Ignite Your Power,” and will discuss the importance of individual voices.
Other featured speakers are:
- Marisa Kwiatkowski, an investigative reporter with USA Today who helped break the story of abuse by Larry Nassar within the USA Gymnastics organization.
- Dan Dye, an assistant chief deputy attorney general for the state of Pennsylvania who led an investigation into the Roman Catholic Church of Pennsylvania, which uncovered 350 predatory priests.
- Rafael Butista, an expert consultant for the Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center.
The conference aims to illustrate the link between everyday harassment and exploitation with human trafficking.
“What we’re really inviting people to do is to consider context that perpetuates various forms of … abuse and exploitation,” said Karen Countryman-Roswurm, executive director of the Center for Combating Human Trafficking.
“First of all, I think it’s critical to understand that if we can’t even offer safe work environments for educated individuals in professional work settings, how do we ever stand a chance to offer safety and access … for those who are the least among us, for those who are the most vulnerable and marginalized?”
This is the sixth annual conferenceheld by the center. It will take place from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex.
Nicole Grimes is an intern in the KMUW News Lab.