DES MOINES, Iowa, January 12, 2022 — Mercy College of Health Sciences demonstrated its commitment and leadership again as the first college in Iowa to sign a proclamation for prevention and take a public stance against human trafficking. Interim President Tom Leahy signed the proclamation this week alongside Mercy College Cabinet members, faculty, and staff.
Mercy College proclaims the month of January as the Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention and Awareness Month. In addition to the campus proclamation, Mercy College is the first college in Iowa to join other organizations as an Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking (IBAT) coalition member. Furthermore, Mercy College’s Center for Human Flourishing on campus has committed funding toward the production of a general human trafficking training video available to all 300,000 businesses in the state of Iowa. The video will be used as an educational piece for coalition employees as they work toward the elimination of human trafficking and slavery in the state of Iowa. This new video will follow the current training video utilized by hotel and motel employees that showcases warning signs for human trafficking and steps to take if one is concerned that someone may be in a related situation.
Dr. Joseph Moravec, long-time Mercy College professor and member of the Board of Directors of the Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking (NAHT), has led the College’s efforts against human trafficking. In April 2020, Moravec hosted the 15th Annual Research Symposium, an event focused on Child Trafficking and featuring keynote speaker Dr. Jordan Greenbaum.
As an Executive Producer of the initial NAHT hotel/motel training video, Dr. Moravec invited Mercy College students to serve as part of the cast and production team for the hotel/motel video.
Please click on the link provided to view the Iowa NAHT hotel/motel training video here: NAHT “No Room for Trafficking” Training Video. If interested in knowing more information about IBAT, visit IBAT.Iowa.gov
As a national leader in health sciences education, Mercy College will continue to educate and bring awareness to this initiative in combating human trafficking both state and nation-wide.
About Mercy College of Health Sciences
Mercy College of Health Sciences is the only private Catholic college in central Iowa and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). Located in downtown Des Moines, Mercy College prepares graduates for service and leadership in the healthcare community with a wide range of bachelor, associate, and certificate programs. Visit www.mchs.edu or call (515) 643-3180 to learn how you can start your Charting Your Course.
