Forum held in Santa Maria raises awareness about human trafficking happening on the Central Coast
SANTA MARIA, Calif. - For the third straight year, the Rotary Club of Santa Maria South hosted a forum to help raise awareness about the concerning issue of human trafficking on the Central Coast.
About 160 people attended the two-and-a-half hour event at the Santa Maria Elks Lodge.
"We hold these every year in January, which is human trafficking awareness month," said event co-chair Victoria Conner. "We started them with a few other Rotary Clubs in the area and partnered with businesses, and now the DA's office the last couple of years, and also the victim witness program and the human trafficking task force. The purpose of it is really to acquaint residents and our business leaders and policymakers with the fact that Santa Maria and the Central Coast area is actually a hub for human trafficking between LA, the Central Valley and San Francisco. We want to give them a little bit of awareness about what to look for, some of the red flags, and if they have people in their families or in their organizations that may be at risk."
During the course of the forum, audience members listened to a lineup of speakers that included survivors of human trafficking, as well as advocates, members of law enforcement, and other government agencies that are helping fight the issue on a daily basis.
"In partnership with our community partners like the Rotary, North County Rape Crisis Center, Child Welfare, the Santa Barbara District Attorney's Office is very much committed to this issue and to identify potential traffickers and to investigate and prosecute those traffickers," said Megan Rheinschild, Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office Victim Witness Assistance Program Manager. "I also think it's such a testament to a community coming together and trying to solve a social issue that otherwise they might not have been aware of."
Rheinschild added many people throughout the Central Coast are often times surprised that human trafficking is not only happening in the area, but it widespread throughout the entire region.
"It crosses all geographic lines," said Rheinschild. "It crosses all demographic lines and nationalities. It's not just a singular issue in a particular community. I think that's also important for people to understand and I'm really grateful to the Rotary of Santa Maria South for putting on a training that helps individuals in the community identify human trafficking for the issue that it is, and know some of the resources that are available."
Since the Human Trafficking Task Force was created in 2013, Rheinschild pointed out it has made great strides in addressing the issue and has produced tangible positive results.
"We partner with local law enforcement agencies to help identify potential victims and survivors of trafficking that don't often appear as human trafficking victims," said Rheinschild. "Our goal really is to proactively investigate and potentially prosecute these cases and also provide trauma informed victim services to individuals that want the assistance to get out of the life locally. We've served about 300 individuals who have been identified as trafficked, which might come as a surprise to many. We've had almost 200 investigations, some of those proactive, some of them just in the course of regular business from law enforcement agencies and through that process. We've developed some systems of care. We're also finding that many of the youth that are being identified as exploited or trafficked in our community are actually local youth that are being exploited by individuals in our own community. Our goal is to give individuals a path out of a lifestyle of exploitation and offer services that they might not otherwise be aware of or available to them."
