Action Items for June:

Write or call your senator to encourage quick passage of the William Wilberforce/Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. Join CAST in its advocacy campaign... more details.

Join a local Meetup to Fight Human Trafficking! The Los Angeles Fight Human Trafficking Meetup gathers monthly. The next meeting is Wednesday, July 9 -- join now for details or find a group in your area!

If you suspect human trafficking in your neighborhood or workplace
or need help for yourself,
please call 1-800-655-4095.
Calls to the hotline are completely confidential
and include language translation services for non-English speakers.
The hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The Los Angeles Metro Task Force on Human Trafficking unites service providers, religious organizations, and law enforcement in the fight against modern slavery. A new website will soon be launched at knowhumantrafficking.org but in the meantime visit our Related Links page for more information.

The national hotline remains available at 1-888-3737-888 for those who live outside Southern California.

Understanding Trafficking in Humans

Trafficking in human beings is the second largest crime problem in the world after drug trafficking. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services explains that “human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery. Victims of human trafficking are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labor. Victims are young children, teenagers, men and women.”1

Trafficking exploits people who are poor and vulnerable for the economic gain of their captors. “A recent CIA report estimated that between 45,000 to 50,000 women and children are brought to the United States every year under false pretenses and are forced to work as prostitutes, abused labourers or servants.”2 Victims are isolated from their communities; forced to work or live in a particular place against their will; deprived of their earnings, food or health services; and prevented from moving freely.

It is not necessary for traffickers to transport their victims across international boundaries. In the United States, traffickers prey on children who are runaways or homeless.  They transport their victims to distant cities or states where the children are forced into prostitution and other illicit activities. Trafficking is a federal crime but its very nature makes it difficult to detect. 

Signs of Slavery

A person who becomes enslaved by traffickers loses control over their lives. Some indicators are that he or she:

• can not change employers
• does not control his or her earnings
• is being held against their will
• is afraid to discuss himself or herself in the presence of others
  

Often, passports and other documents are confiscated, unenforceable “debts” are flagrantly overestimated, and the lives of family members are threatened.3

What You Can Do

• Recognize the signs of slavery and call the trafficking hotline if you believe you have met a person who is enslaved. Hotline numbers are 1-800-655-4095 in Southern California or 1-888-3737-888 nationally.
• Educate yourself and others about the issue of trafficking in humans and modern slavery.
• Minimize opportunities for exploitation by supporting fair trade and anti-poverty programs.
• Support organizations like the Sisters of Notre Dame that are working to raise awareness and restore survivors of slavery to freedom and the fullness of life.