By SHELLY BANJO
Wall Stree Journal
On Friday morning at the Morgans Hotel, Susan Sarandon launched a worldwide petition—in partnership with the Body Shop, nonprofit ECPAT USA and the Cambodia-based Somaly Mam Foundation—to lobby state governments for "Safe Harbor" laws. These protect victims of sex trafficking from being arrested and prosecuted for prostitution. Currently, child victims of trafficking are only protected in New York, Connecticut and Washington State.
"I choose very carefully the groups I talk about," said Ms. Sarandon, who's been an active fund-raiser for presidential candidates such as Ralph Nader, anti-war causes and gay rights. "We need to put a face to this issue in order to take the problem from abstract to specific."
While Ms. Sarandon tried to shed light on the 1.2 million children trafficked around the world every year, her attention later turned to Penny, her Pomeranian who traveled separately to meet her after the event. Penny was present during interviews, waiting eagerly for her owner to play fetch with a yellow plastic ball.
Joked Ms. Sarandon after the presentation ended: "The important thing here is, where's the dog?"
Write to Shelly Banjo at shelly.banjo@wsj.com
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