Tackling sex trafficking head on

A Note from Toni

Toni Atkins

Several years ago, while I was speaker of the state Assembly, my staff and my colleagues, working with advocates throughout the state, came up with an array of ideas to crack down on sex traffickers and to support survivors.

Many of those ideas became law — by the end of the 2015-2016 legislative session, Governor Jerry Brown had signed more than a dozen human-trafficking bills, including a major bill, SB 1322 by Senator Holly Mitchell, that requires the state to treat children caught up in the commercial sex trade as victims, not criminal prostitutes.

That momentum has continued, and I’m pleased that two of my own sex-trafficking bills have become law — including one requiring all hotels and motels to provide their employees with training on how to recognize the signs of human trafficking and report what they see to law enforcement, and another that allows district attorneys to introduce evidence of past crimes when they’re prosecuting a trafficker, to show a pattern of preying on victims for their own profit.

California has the strongest sex-trafficking laws in the country. But our work is far from done. For example, we need more temporary housing for survivors, and expanded specialized services to help them recover from the unique type of trauma they’ve experienced.

We must also turn our attention to another form of human trafficking — labor trafficking. Labor trafficking is forcing people to work through coercion or deception, often without pay or connection to the outside world.

It’s a form of modern-day slavery, particularly problematic in industries such as construction, janitorial and cleaning services, food production, agriculture, and home care. They’re painters, carpenters, plumbers, and people who take care of our children and our seniors.

We don’t know much about how pervasive the problem is because its victims are typically reluctant to come forward, and some don’t even realize that they’re being victimized. Much more investigation needs to be done, and that’s why I was glad to help kick off the first of a series of hearings on labor trafficking in November in San Diego.

The hearings are being held by the Little Hoover Commission, an independent agency that studies state policy issues and makes recommendations to the governor and the legislature.

It’s entirely appropriate that the first hearing was held in San Diego. While this isn’t a problem exclusive to immigrants, our proximity to the international border and the presence of immigrants and asylum-seekers makes our region a prime target for predators looking to exploit those who are vulnerable.

Among our migrant laborer population in San Diego, researchers estimate that 30% are victims of labor trafficking, and 55% are victims of abusive labor practices or gross exploitation. There are an estimated 38,000 victims in San Diego, and nearly half a million in California.

We need to better understand the scope of the problem. At the hearing, we heard from survivors of trafficking who told heart-rending stories, as well as advocates, experts, and prosecutors, who framed the issue from several angles for members of the Little Hoover Commission. It was a great first step toward collecting the information we need to address labor trafficking immediately and appropriately.

—Toni G. Atkins represents the 39th District in the California Senate. Follow her on Twitter @SenToniAtkins.