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| DA Joyce Dudley, Deputy DA Mag Nicola, and Victim-Witness Director Megan Rheinschild in 2014, soon after the founding of the Human Trafficking Task Force. (Photo: Lara Cooper) |
In 2013, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's office formed a Human Trafficking Task Force (website) including law enforcement, nonprofits, and DSS. Now, the DA and Sheriff have received a $1.3 million US Department of Justice grant to fight human trafficking by helping victims, prosecuting offenders, and ending the cycle of exploitation.
The grant will improve critical services for both adult and minor domestic and international trafficking victims. District Attorney Joyce Dudley hailed the grant award and called the Task Force "a model of collaboration... [that] has implemented nationally-recognized intervention strategies."
Human trafficking is the illegal movement of people. It may include sex trafficking, in which someone commits a commercial sex act by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person isn't 18 years old.
California is one of the top four U.S. human trafficking destinations. Our County vulnerable to trafficking due to its location (on a natural transit corridor between major metropolitan areas) and reliance on industries that attract transitory populations (tourism, conferences, and agriculture).
Half of forced labor victims, and most sexually exploited victims of human trafficking, are young girls and women. Isolated from friends and family, and intimidated or emotionally manipulated by their captors, they have difficulty seeking help. Sex trafficking rings may keep them in one city only a few days before moving them to another.
Girls in foster or group homes are particularly vulnerable: they may be recruited by other girls who offer friendship, and groomed for sex work by young men who offer a romantic relationship. The victims may have drug addictions or abusive backgrounds that make them vulnerable and inclined to protect their abusers. Some people think of the victims as prostitutes, but that is inaccurate, as they are not able to give consent. According to the District Attorney’s Office, 80 minors in the county have been identified as likely being commercially sexually exploited. Ages typically range from 12 to 17, although children as young as 8 have been seen.
Economic migrants are also vulnerable. They may be lured from their country by promises of a good job, only to be forced to work at illegally low wages in a restaurant kitchen or other business where they cannot hope to pay off their smuggler for years. They are then told they can pay off their smuggler faster by doing sex work in a massage parlor or other setting. If they speak to law enforcement, they are told, family members back home will be killed.
The grant will help local law enforcement investigate and prosecute human trafficking cases; help the DA Victim-Witness Assistance Program provide access to victim and rape crisis services 24/7; and help the Task Force collect, share and analyze data to make data-driven decisions and improvements.