SAN DIEGO — Human trafficking is the second largest crime in our region right after drug sales, according to the San Diego District Attorney's office.
This Human Trafficking Awareness Month, the DA's Office is doing various community outreach events to keep communities informed.
On Friday, the DA's Office held the ‘Human Trafficking 101’ community event In North County with the goal of spreading awareness about trafficking and how to identify the signs.
Organizers held the event in Spanish in an effort to keep the Hispanic community informed.
"It's important obviously, for everyone to know what human trafficking is, but the Spanish speaking community is a big portion of San Diego. So, it's really important that they're educated on this as well," said Monique Myers, San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.
The free and public event drew over 30 families from North County.
“The Hispanic community is more vulnerable. I think if we don’t have the right information and don't get involved, we won’t be able to stop some of the things that go on in our communities,” said Maria Martinez, who says such events are essential to keeping non-English speakers aware of what is happening in our region.
The event was held at One Safe Place, a one-stop-shop family justice center that provides free resources for anyone experiencing human trafficking, abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence or any other abuse or victimization.
Myers says the immigrant community is more impacted by labor trafficking, but anyone can experience sex trafficking.
"Human trafficking is very prolific in San Diego county, and it affects boys and girls equally and so we really need to make sure that parents are aware of what human trafficking is and that youth is aware of what human trafficking and so they can identify it, report it to law enforcement, but most importantly, get resources that they need to get out of that life," she added.
Myers says San Diego county has seen an enormous increase in online recruitment of minors. The average age of human trafficking is between 15 and 16 years old.
"Kids in high school are being actively recruited online through social networking sites," said Myers.
Myers adds that in the months following the fallout of the pandemic, officials are identifying victims as young as 13.
Another reason why Martinez says she decided to attend the meeting is to keep her children safe, “We are all vulnerable to this happening. I have young adults at home and I think human trafficking can impact any of us no matter the age."
The DA’s Office is asking the community to report any signs that could be tied to human trafficking.
"Documented or undocumented, we don't pass that information on to anyone. so we hope that it's not a barrier to reporting crimes," said Myers.
To learn more about One Safe Place or find out about resources for victims, click here.
- To report Human Trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-(888) 373-7888.
- SMS: 233733 (Text "HELP" or "INFO")
- Hours: 24 hours, 7 days a week
- Languages: English, Spanish and 200 more languages
To learn more click here.
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