By DAVE SCHWAB |\u00a0Mission Times Courier<\/p>\n
[Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of an ongoing series on human trafficking in San Diego.]<\/em><\/p>\n San Diegans battling human trafficking for sex and labor were recognized Nov. 27, at La Mesa Soroptimist\u2019s 62nd annual pre-Thanksgiving community breakfast at the Handlery Hotel.<\/p>\n Those working to stop human trafficking and assist its victims were thanked and honored for their work. Honorees included: Kathi Hardy, executive director of Freedom from Exploitation Inc. and director of operations at Survivor Leader Network of San Diego; Kiley Lizama, program manager with I Care; Catherine Hanna-Schrock, program director of kNOw MORE; Ami Carpenter and Jaime Gates, professors and co-principle investigators from University of San Diego overseeing research study on human trafficking; Suyapa Ulloa, outreach leader of PETALS (human trafficking ministry) at Rock Church; and Generate Hope.<\/p>\n Soroptimist International of La Mesa\u2019s Lisa Moore thanked the gathering, acknowledging visiting Soroptimist dignitaries. She then introduced mistress of ceremonies Geni Cavitt, former KGTV-TV 10 News broadcaster and producer, writer, and editor of Cavitt Productions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is horrendous, terrible and unimaginable \u2014 yet it goes on all the time,\u201d said Cavitt of sex and labor trafficking. \u201cI\u2019ve learned so much more over the last few years about what sex trafficking does to people. Everyone who works in the sex trafficking area is so brave. It\u2019s not easy.\u201d<\/p>\n Cavitt introduced keynote speaker Yusef Miller, a former Camp Pendleton Navy Corpsman and founder of Mosques Against Trafficking (MAT), a networking awareness team of mosques and musallas, now nationwide, collaborating against human trafficking.<\/p>\n Characterizing trafficking as a \u201cdaunting\u201d and \u201chuge\u201d topic, Miller said, \u201cThis is an $810 million industry in San Diego, second only to drugs and a cut above guns. We\u2019re in the top 13 list of worst cities in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n Dispelling trafficking misconceptions, Miller noted \u201c80% of those trafficked are American-born and raised. So this is an American problem that needs an American solution from the American people. It\u2019s our issue, our child.\u201d<\/p>\n Pointing out the average age of those trafficked is 14 to 16, Miller said, \u201cNo one is immune to this industry.\u201d He added people of color and those of lower socioeconomic status are \u201cmore vulnerable,\u201d especially runaways whom he said, \u201cget propositioned for sex within 48 hours of running away.\u201d<\/p>\n Sex trafficking is increasingly occurring online, where \u201colder males pose as younger males\u201d to lure victims whose families they threaten once they\u2019ve been recruited into the illicit trade, Miller said.<\/p>\n To combat online trafficking, police are now setting up sting operations online with officers posing as perpetrators to lure traffickers trying to lure young women into the trade.<\/p>\n Sex trafficking is not a coincidence, Miller added.<\/p>\n \u201cThese people are not snatched from the street,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re in our homes. They go to school with us. They\u2019re our children. They\u2019re our co-workers.\u201d<\/p>\n Progress is being made on eliminating the stigmatization of sex trafficking victims being categorized as \u201cprostitutes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRecently, we changed the laws,\u201d Miller said adding those below age 18 are no longer saddled with proving they\u2019re not criminals.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a huge step,\u201d he said. \u201cWomen used to lose their lives to this stigma of being a prostitute.\u201d<\/p>\n Trafficking carries over to labor, said Miller, noting he knew of an instance where labor traffickers would take enslaved laborers making tacos out, shoot a goat in front of them and then tell them, \u201cWhat we did to that goat, we could do to you.\u201d<\/p>\n The situation is bad but there is hope if communities get together and work cooperatively, Miller said.<\/p>\n \u201cSan Diego is the leader in the nation in fighting human trafficking,\u201d he concluded. \u201cWith our help, we could be just that much better.\u201d<\/p>\n The pre-Thanksgiving community breakfast is sponsored each year by Soroptimist International of La Mesa, a nonprofit volunteer service organization of women, active and retired, working together to improve the lives of women and girls.<\/p>\n Soroptimist, which means \u201cbest for women,\u201d was started in Oakland, California in 1921 and now has clubs in about 124 countries and territories, including several throughout San Diego County.<\/p>\n In 2011, local Soroptimists formed STAT! (Soroptimists Together Against Trafficking), to assist victims and survivors.<\/p>\n As part of its work annually, STAT seeks out survivors of trafficking who are trying to improve their lives through education or training and presents them with Soroptimist \u201cLive Your Dream\u201d cash awards that recipients can use to offset any cost associated with their attaining higher education.<\/p>\n