Human Trafficking Awareness Forum Returns To Santa Maria in January
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) - The Santa Maria Rotary Club is spreading the word about the next forum raising awareness of human trafficking happening locally.
Members of the Human Trafficking Task Force say that while the forum is a month away, the issue itself is ever-present.
“Any time that you have someone that deprives another person of their personal liberties by force, fear or coercion,” says Maria Barriga with Santa Maria CHP. “That's what we're looking for in the definition of human trafficking.”
A survivor of human trafficking, Alia Azariah, who now works as the Safe House Project's aftercare director, says Santa Barbara County—including the Santa Maria Valley—is significantly impacted by human trafficking.
“This area of Santa Maria and Orcutt is really hit hard and our kids in this area are significantly vulnerable because of poverty, because of parents just not knowing. I think there's a lack of information here for parents.
Azariah says online trafficking activities saw a sharp increase during the COVID-19 pandemic and have remained high, since kids had no choice but to seek connection via social media.
“There is not enough people to meet with the individuals that are experiencing this,” says Azariah. “We have such a demand for services because we do have so many people that are experiencing this in our county. How far we've come, we have a long way to go. But just from my personal experience, if we don't invest it'll make the problem worse.”
Data for Santa Barbara county shows nearly 300 human trafficking investigations overall in the last decade, and that the Central Coast is a travel corridor.
“They’re pit stopping in our communities,” says Officer Barriga. “And these women are posting ads if they're going to pit stop in any of our cities. So it is happening here. It's not necessarily that it's born here, they are traveling up and down the state and stopping at all of our cities and working.”
Organizers hope to continue increasing the turnout for the annual awareness and training forum on January 22nd.
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