On Saturday, June 7, 2014, Pacifica Institute of Orange County partnered with UNICEF, the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, and Crittenton Services for Children and Families in a screening of the documentary “Not My Life,” followed by a panel on Human Trafficking.
UNICEF’s “End Trafficking” fact sheet states that, “human trafficking has been likened to modern-day slavery that subjects children, women, and men to force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor. This horrific practice can include prostitution, pornography, and sex tourism as well as labor for domestic service, factory or construction work, and migrant farming.”
The film begins with voices speaking over a black screen, as the words “human trafficking is slavery” appear. One voice states, “I don’t use the word ‘inhuman,’ because it’s humans that do this stuff,” and another tells us that this is a “global pandemic.” Those two phrases capture the essence of the documentary, which highlights ways in which people exploit other people through labor and sex trafficking both domestically and internationally.
The panel featured our previous guest speaker Annie Kim, a US Fund for UNICEF Global Citizenship Fellow, along with Linh Tran, Administrator of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force, and Stefanie Benvenuto, Advocacy Director of Crittenton Services for Children and Families. They discussed the psyche of the victims as they rehabilitate, the mentality of the traffickers, the cycle of violence and the hopelessness it sometimes perpetuates, and the ways in which law enforcement and the public are combating these crimes.
Each of these women and the organizations they represent combat human trafficking through education and advocacy. They protect victims, prosecute offenders, prevent further perpetration of the crime, and provide foster care to affected youth. You can take action as well by posting the National Human Trafficking Hotline number, 1-888-373-7888, continuing to inform yourself, training and educating others, mentoring youth, and by getting involved with one of these organizations.
Pacifica Institute thanks Annie Kim, Linh Tran, and Stefanie Benvenuto for their informational and inspirational discussion. We also thank our guests for attending.