The Los Angeles League of Women Voters is presenting a community awareness forum May 2 to highlight what has been happening to our neighborhoods, our young people, etc.
Now that human trafficking is becoming recognized as a part of all of our neighborhoods, the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles and the Korean American Federation are holding a public awareness forum on May 2, 2015. We may not know if our children, our neighbors, our friends have been subjected to some form of approach, some form of intimidation, or even forced into one of the trafficking situations. Most of us have no idea that it exists all around us.
What is human trafficking? It includes men and women, boys and girls being coerced, forced or lured into exploitative, sometimes violent, situations either for sex or labor. It includes those who feel that they cannot escape from the situation. They may be threatened; their families may be threatened.
Because trafficking is basically an underground operation with the victims often unable to seek help, actual statistics are not very reliable. However, groups involved in this field believe that there are hundreds of thousands now trafficked in the United States. Los Angeles is one of the top three cities in the country for trafficking. What we do know is that children are exploited even as young as 11 or 12, and we know that gangs have determined that it is a more lucrative and a less risky (for them) endeavor than selling drugs. So the problem is expanding rapidly.
Human Trafficking is real, it is happening all around us . . .boys and girls, men and women.in both our wealthy and our poor neighborhoods, in our streets and in our schools – sometimes hidden, sometimes obvious. We need to find out what is being done and what needs to be done to stop trafficking.
We invite the community to join us to hear from experts, local officials and local agencies, who are working to address the problem. They will discuss the nature and extent of the problem in Los Angeles as they see it, those who are particularly vulnerable, what is being done, what more can be done, what signs to look for, and most important of all, how can we help?
Saturday, May 2, 2015
12:30 – 4:00 pm
Korean American Federation
981 S. Western Avenue
Los Angeles CA 90006
(Enter at back of building, free parking, street parking.)
Please RSVP by April 20 – Sandra Trutt – [email protected]
For more information in Korean, call Jennifer Oh, KA Family Services at (213) 235-4860
For more information in Spanish, call League of Women Voters at (213) 368-1616