When human rights activist Kathy Maskell tries to describe the way children are trafficked for sexual exploitation, she recalls a sign made several years ago by a group of enslaved children in Africa.

"Tell them about us," it read. "Tell them we exist."

As Maskell addressed a crowd of about 50 at the Thomas Building last night, she said her purpose was to give the voiceless a voice -- and to let them know they had been heard.

"Right now, there are about 27 million slaves in the world, and half of them are children," she said. "Two children are trafficked every minute for sexual exploitation ... just imagine, by the end of this hour, how many children will have been trafficked."

Maskell is assistant to the CEO at Justice for Children International (JFCI), an organization working toward the abolition of child sex trafficking and exploitation through advocacy, prevention and aftercare.

She said she considers the fight to end human trafficking to be the New Abolitionist Movement.

"It seems kind of useless and even futile to think we can make a dent in this," Maskell said. "It may seem naïve, it may seem ideal, but this is the vision -- that we will abolish this horror. And our history tells us that seemingly impossible things are possible."

JFCI works with organizations in Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines to train caregivers and establish safe homes -- places where women and children are often sent after they escape from or are rescued from brothels.

"Returning home is not always a viable option, because they were exploited by and sold into slavery by their families," Maskell said. "In a safe home, children receive long-term medical care, counseling and education."

She stressed that caregivers in safe homes are often unable to provide adequate care to children -- in Thailand, for instance, the average education level of a caregiver is the sixth grade.

In an effort to combat this problem, Maskell said, JFCI offers a nine-month training program to college graduates who want to work with sexually exploited women and children.

Maskell said that in 2005, between 14,500 and 17,500 people were trafficked into the United States.

"I challenge you as students, as the future leaders of our country ... to help us think about how we begin dealing with the children who are victims of trafficking within our own borders," she said. "Simply raising the profile of this issue is very important."

Maskell's lecture was hosted by Penn State's chapter of Amnesty International as part of its Stop Violence Against Women and Children's Human Rights campaigns.

"What these children go through every day is just so incredible, but they are so resilient," said Amnesty International chapter co-coordinator Loren Heinbach.

"We need to be a voice for the voiceless, and we are in a prime position to do that. And it starts from just learning about these issues."