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Prosecutors from eight countries and 13 states and the District of Columbia are convening this week in Waikiki to discuss solutions to sex trafficking.
City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro, City Council Chairman Ernie Martin and the National District Attorneys Association are sponsoring the event, running Wednesday through Friday.
New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and Kaneshiro will serve as event co-chairmen.
“As prosecutors, we recognize that sex trafficking is a global evil and that it falls upon us to bring traffickers to justice,” Kaneshiro said in a news release. “It is my hope that this gathering will result in an exchange of ideas and strategies, the forging of working relationships and the start of a true fellowship based on a common goal that transcends nationality.”
The sessions begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Sheraton-Waikiki Hotel’s Molokai Ballroom.
Other than the opening of the event, where the media will be allowed in, the daily sessions will be restricted to participants.
Michael Ramos Martin, district attorney of San Bernardino County, Calif., and president of the National District Attorneys Association; Vance; Kaneshiro; and Martin will provide opening remarks.
Prosecutors are arriving for the meeting from Canada, China, Japan, Palau, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.
American prosecutors from Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Nevada, Oregon, Virginia, Washington and Washington, D.C., will participate.
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