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Supervisor Novasel recommending the Board:
1) Receive a presentation by Health & Human Services on the El Dorado County Foster Youth Human Trafficking/Commercially Sexually Appointed Children Task Force, regarding Human Trafficking; and
2) Authorize Chair to sign a Proclamation recognizing January, 2016 as Human Trafficking Awareness Month. (Est. Time: 10 Min.)
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Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery from which traffickers profit from the control and exploitation of others. As defined under US federal law, victims of human trafficking victims in the US include three populations:
(a) Minors (under age 18) induced into commercial sex-referred to as Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC)
(b) Adults (age 18 or over) involved in commercial sex via force, fraud, or coercion
(c) Children and adults forced to perform labor and/or services in conditions of involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery through force, fraud, or coercion, such as domestic workers held in a home or farm-workers forced to labor against their will.
Those vulnerable to human trafficking span multiple areas, such as age, socio-economic status, nationality, education-level, and gender. Traffickers often prey on people hoping for a better life, lacking employment opportunities, having an unstable home life, or with a history of sexual abuse; conditions present in all spheres of society. Human trafficking victims are found in cities, suburbs, and rural areas in all 50 states and in Washington, DC. The most vulnerable populations include undocumented immigrants; runaway and homeless youth; victims of trauma and abuse; refugees and individuals fleeing conflict; and oppressed, marginalized, and impoverished groups and individuals.