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IU McKinney 3L Sarah Hanson has been accepted into the 2018 Summer Human Trafficking Prevention Innovation Lab.

The lab is a partnership between Indiana University's Center for the Study of Global Change and the Alliance for Freedom, Restoration, and Justice. The goal is to speed learning on issues and practices critical to ending human trafficking. Graduate students will meet and work in small groups to design a new course for IU students and help raise awareness about the effort across the university.

"I am extremely excited about getting the opportunity to be a part of the lab," Hanson said. "We will be working to develop a method to accelerate learning on issues and practices needed to combat and prevent human trafficking. I will be assisting with that, as well as learning from the knowledge and experience of the others in the lab. It is a diverse group, all of whom have a passion for anti-trafficking and I'm honored to be able to work alongside them."

Hanson said she first learned about human trafficking at her church in 2012. Women at Risk, International, staged the awareness-raising event in the run-up to the Super Bowl in Indianapolis. That led to Hanson working for the group as an intern in Summer 2012, and she interned for a year in Bangkok, Thailand, with NightLight International, an affiliate of Women at Risk. Hanson's experience in Thailand prompted her to want to go to law school, as she learned "how difficult it can be for victims of human trafficking to get adequate or any recognition as victims with the justice system," she said. Hanson plans to practice in this area of law after she completes her legal education.