Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition Sponsors Research Position

A group of undergraduate and graduate students advocating an end to human trafficking and forced labor is teaming up with the Kennedy School of Government to support a research analyst position that will study Harvard’s supply chain labor practices.

The organization, the Harvard Coalition Against Modern Slavery, partnered with the Kennedy School’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy to create the position. The new analyst—who will either be a graduate or undergraduate student—will investigate some of Harvard’s supply chains to assess the equity of its vendors’ labor practices, according to Coalition member Diana E. Sheedy ’17.

Last semester, Sheedy and two other members of the group approached University President Drew G. Faust about a possible collaboration on the issue of forced labor.

“We proposed to President Faust that we wanted to learn more because it was an issue that we cared about,” Sheedy said. “[She] was wonderful and agreed.”

Members of the coalition worked with Kennedy School faculty to design a research position, which the Carr Center will fund, Sheedy said.

According to Tatum R. Williamson, a student in the School of Public Health and a member of the coalition, this semester’s research is a “very preliminary step.” The group hopes to first assess if Harvard has a problem within its supply chains, and then make recommendations, she said.

Now that the research position is filled, the group plans to expand beyond the handful of members who regularly engage with the group.

“Right now we’re interested in creating more of an established club, because it’s only been three or four of us,” Williamson said.

Sheedy said she hopes to attract other undergraduates to the Coalition, but that the diversity of Harvard schools represented is one of its strengths.

Elizabeth Kim, a member of the coalition and a student at the Kennedy School, wrote in an email that the group hopes to raise awareness of human trafficking and show students how they can address the issue in their professional or personal lives.

“Human trafficking is a heinous crime that continues to undermine rule of law, fuel illicit economies, and strip people of the freedom and ability to work towards their human potential,” Kim said.

The Coalition hopes not only to expand within Harvard’s walls, but to work with other universities, as well. According to Sheedy, members are planning an intercollegiate convention for the spring.

After the initial meeting with Faust, the group has continued to keep in touch with her chief of staff. Both Williamson and Sheedy said they have appreciated the level of administrative support their group has received.

—Staff writer Mia C. Karr can be reached at mia.karr@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @miackarr.