By Khalida Sarwari
The warning signs of human trafficking can be subtle, but knowing what to look for can be life-saving. Which is why a group of concerned citizens in Saratoga have decided to face the epidemic head-on at a Jan. 28 community meeting. The event, “Hope in the Darkness,” is meant to raise awareness about human trafficking on the local level, one of the largest and fastest-growing criminal industries in the world.
While most people are familiar with sex trafficking, they may not realize that trafficking can take varied forms, from labor exploitation to domestic servitude, with victims in the restaurant industry, sweatshop factories and migrant agricultural field, among others.
Residential cleaning service companies are one such example. If the manager of such businesses opts to drop off maids at the residence as opposed to allowing them to drive themselves, that can be a potential red flag, say event organizers.
Knowing how to spot red flags requires awareness and perhaps a skilled eye but can ultimately save lives, according to the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking.
Other signs to look out for include an individual who appears to be shadowed by someone or receives repeated calls from someone who purports to be a boyfriend, who has rehearsed answers when spoken to or doesn’t appear to be in control of their own money, passport, ID or license.
It is also important to look for signs of poor mental health. For example, someone who appears nervous or paranoid, malnourished and exhausted, or is fearful of receiving help from law enforcement. Tattoos and scarring or signs of physical abuse are other telltale signs.
Advancements have been made on the state level recently to address human trafficking. One of the more significant ones is a state mandate to teach about human trafficking in public schools as part of the California Healthy Youth Act, a law that made comprehensive sexuality education mandatory for all middle school and high school students. Educators are now teaching their students what human trafficking looks like and signs to watch out for.
“I am so excited that that has happened, that they passed the bill,” said Mary Benson, a longtime activist and member of Stop Trafficking on Our Planet (STOP). “I am thrilled that it is now getting taken into the schools.”
STOP is made up of about a dozen local women who, inspired by the Nita Belles book “In Our Backyard,” came together in 2015 to form a task force with the intention of raising awareness about the existence of human trafficking in Santa Clara County. Their mission is to find ways to ameliorate the problem within their own communities. The group has members from many parts of the South Bay, including Cupertino, Los Gatos, San Jose and Saratoga.
“I think, for many of us, I think when we heard about human trafficking, it wasn’t a topic we were unfamiliar with, it was just in Thailand, it wasn’t in our back yards,” said Jean Cherniss, a founding member of STOP.
The Jan. 28 event will feature speeches by Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen and Bryanna Pellizzer, who manages The Nest, a home for girls in San Jose who have been sexually trafficked. Rosen will share what the county’s legal system is doing to combat modern-day slavery, while Pellizzer will discuss the work that her rescue house is doing to help victims.
“I’m going to be talking about the different phases that we have; I’ll be talking about what that looks like and how that plays out with us,” said Pellizzer. “Our program can be anywhere from six months to nine months and up to a year. I’ll be talking about what kind of clients we serve and the process of transformation. A lot of the kids in the system, they won’t make it all the way through. The heart of The Nest is seen as little successes—‘Hey, wow, you were able to say no when someone asked you to have sex with them’—and those are the accomplishments that our team focuses on.”
Saratoga is no stranger to this issue. Just a few years ago, three San Jose residents were arrested for bringing over people from Spain to work against their will at TapaOle restaurant on Cox Avenue and Utopik Salon on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road.
While it came as a surprise and shock to many, that wasn’t the case for Terri Goehner, a founding member of STOP who resides in San Jose, or many of the other members of the group who had done some reading on the topic. If there’s one thing to know about human trafficking, said Laurel Perusa, another STOP member and longtime Saratoga resident, it’s that no city is immune to this problem.
“I feel that it’s an issue that is all over the world; it’s unfortunately in every community in the U.S. and I think if we can somehow put a halt to trafficking in our county, our state, our country, we’re making a big mark,” Perusa said.
For years now, the STOP group has been supporting The Nest, run by Advent Group Ministries. STOP’s long-term vision is to join the global effort to eradicate human trafficking by increasing people’s awareness of the issue and equipping them with tools so that if they see potential victims, they’ll know what to do and where to report it.
“It is a huge criminal endeavor and it can feel daunting, but if we can have impact on one life, then that’s a huge impact,” Cherniss said.
The Jan. 28 event is free and open to all, but donations will be accepted for The Nest. It’s set for 2-3:30 p.m. at the Saratoga Federated Church, 20390 Park Place. In addition to the talks by Rosen and Pellizzer, a short film will be shown.
Link:
Saratoga: Human trafficking awareness event slated for Jan. 28
