"I really think it's one of the most severe and egregious human rights abuses and crises in the world today."
27 million people around the world - in every country - are being held in modern slavery. Many are women and young children, living in despicable, inhumane conditions, and exploited sexually, physically and emotionally.
This week, the Mansfield Center at the University of Montana has tried to shine a light on this slavery, with a conference titled "Fight for Hope and Freedom: Human Trafficking, Montana and the World."
Speakers who fight human trafficking, and who work with survivors, have come to the conference from many countries, to join those in Montana who are fighting human trafficking within our borders.
Sarah Symons is the co-founder, with her husband John Berger, of the organization known as "Made by Survivors", which works to provide survivors of slavery in countries like India, Nepal and Cambodia - education, training and jobs that can help them stay free and economically independent.
Before starting the organization, Symons was a composer of music for television and film. In this feature interview, Symons tells News Director Sally Mauk her life and career changed when she saw the documentary "The Day my God Died", about human trafficking.
