LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake Family Resource Center is rolling out a new program offering assistance to those who have been the victims of human trafficking.
The organization has been building the program over the past year.
The United Nations defines human trafficking as "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation."
It is a form of modern day slavery where people are forced in one way or another to perform acts against their will.
An estimated 27 million adults and 13 million children are trafficked worldwide profiting $32 billion a year.
Human trafficking has become the second largest criminal industry following the drug cartel. Nearly 80 percent of human trafficking is for sex and 20 percent is for labor exploitation.
California is one of the nation’s top four destination states for human trafficking. Three of the top 13 cities in the nation for human trafficking are located in California.
Eighty percent of the state’s human trafficking cases occur in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego, according to the California Department of Justice.
Lake County is only two hours north of San Francisco, is close to the Pacific Coast and only 60 miles from Interstate 5, one of the state’s most commonly traveled routes that is known for many truck stops and motels that are used for luring, recruiting and transporting trafficked victims.
“Our location has made Lake County a prime area for human trafficking activity,” the Lake Family Resource Center said in its new program announcement.
Over the past several years, Lake County has had high profile human trafficking cases that have resulted in criminal convictions.
They include a case that involved two men keeping a teenager at a marijuana grow and confining her in a metal box.
In another case, Lakeport resident Sam Massette was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to prison for selling teenage girls into prostitution in the Bay Area.
The Lake Family Resource Center’s new program will offer services including individual case management, safety planning, social and criminal justice advocacy, community crisis line response, restraining order assistance, support groups, psychotherapy, and emergency shelter and housing establishment assistance.
All services offered will be provided by trained human trafficking advocates and services are free and confidential.
The human trafficking team will offer community education and will be involved in outreach activities and awareness events through Lake County.
Additionally, the Lake Family Resource Center has been certified through the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, or POST.
The Lake Family Resource Center is working with local law enforcement officials to provide POST and Standards and Training for Corrections-certified training to build skills and capacity to adhere to best practices on human trafficking victim-centered investigations, prosecutions and victim service referral procedures.
The organization thanked all of the community partners for their support and offered a special thank you to the Lake County Rollerette, Community First Credit Union and Clearlake Rotary for much-appreciated donations which are being used to get the new program off to a good start.
The Lake Family Resource Center provides a multitude of services to build family stability and strength. The agency supports Lake County residents in achieving stable, self-sufficient, and healthy families and communities.
Call the center at 707-279-0563 to find out more about their services.
Lake Family Resource Center announces new program to help human trafficking victims
- Lake County News reports
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