Held by the university’s Center for Women’s Studies, the meeting gave locals a chance to hear from and speak with Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, an Obama administration appointee who heads up the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
“Human trafficking is modern day slavery. It is the fastest growing illegal commerce in the world, overtaking weapons trafficking and only exceeded by drug trafficking,” said Sandie Morgan, the director of the university’s Center for Women’s Studies and the administrator for the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force.
Currently, among others, the task force is investigating a tip in Costa Mesa that people may be held against their will as servants, and a Huntington Beach tip about human smugglers, Westminster Police Lt. Derek Marsh said.
“It’s real, it’s evil and it’s hurtful,” Westminster Police Chief Andrew Hall said. “It’s as serious a crime as child abuse, elder abuse, rape or domestic violence.”
But cases usually remain unreported, so authorities are unsure how pervasive the issue is in Orange County.
“We’re only now beginning to scratch the surface,” Hall said.
Rather than focusing solely on prosecuting, authorities said the Orange County Task Force also included victim advocacy and service agencies to create a victim-centered restorative process.
“In our world, saving a victim is better than winning a case,” Marsh said.
Sanchez also spoke at the town hall about her efforts to bring awareness to the issue of human trafficking, along with members of the Westminster Police Department, which has been a critical part of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force to deal with the problem locally.
