CD 469 News Brief

Southern California Sex Traffickers Targeted
By: Tami Abdollah
September 24, 2014
Retrieved from: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/09/24/6733144/southern-california-sex-traffickers.html
As of September 24, 2014, the federal government arrested 91 human traffickers and rescued about two dozen children in Southern California. Of the victims were twenty-two children and fifty-four women. The average range of sex workers in the U.S. is between twelve and fourteen years old. There have been one hundred and ninety seven arrests made for sex trafficking and one hundred and eight convictions in the last year. Traffickers are using social media and are in middle and high school areas to target children. Many young children who are being trafficked are children from foster care, welfare recipients, and juvenile offenders. Instead of prosecuting sex workers, officials are providing interventions such as non-profit support groups and welfare services to repair the trauma that they experienced. One woman was victimized for ten years, she was shipped across the U.S., branded as property of her traffickers, and was temporarily beaten to blindness.
It is important to understand that sex trafficking is occurring in high rates within California. It is also important to know that there are supports for women and children and that authorities are providing services to work through the trauma they endured.