City officials rolled out a new campaign Friday to help identify and put an end to human trafficking in Los Angeles.
In a joint announcement, officials from The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Metro, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the advocacy group Peace Over Violence stood in front of the downtown Union Station and unveiled the "Don't be Silent" campaign aimed at bringing public awareness to human trafficking and teaching people how to identify suspicious activity and report it.
Victims of human trafficking are often transported on public transportation, according to a news release. Most often, the victims are young girls.
Officials planned to spend $250,000 on the campaign and post information around LA County on Metro buses, trains and billboards.
"Often times the victims are tattooed with the pimps name on their neck, on their forehead-- conspicuous places--sombody who is obviously subordinate to the pimp that's running them arround" LA County Sheriff Jim McDonnell said.
The extent of the problem in Southern California is unclear as many cases fly under the radar. However, many cases, not all, are reported nationally and internationally.
There were nearly 20,000 cases of human trafficking reported between 2007 and 2014 to the Polaris Project, an organization dedicated to ending all forms of human trafficking and slavery.
The number of cases has dramatically increased year-by-year, with the highest percentage consistently related to sex trafficking, according to the organization's website. Of the 19,724 cases reported, 6,929 people claimed to be US citizens. The organization warns that the numbers are "non-cumulative." As, people who report the cases "do not always provide demographic information."
In 2011, 42,291 victims of human trafficking were identified worldwide, according to the Center for Public Policy Studies. Of that number, only 7,909 cases were prosecuted and resulted in 3,969 convictions.
"An estimated 2 million children are exploited by the global commercial sex trade, with 100,000 minors in the commercial sex trade in the US alone," according to the CPPS.
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Los Angeles serves as a hub for the potential of forced labor in sweatshops with many textile and clothing manufacturers competing with low-wage international labor. It also serves as a hub to transport victims of human trafficking.
As part of the campaign, Metro planned on training it's 10,000 employees to be on the lookout for suspicious activity.
Victims and witnesses of human trafficking are encouraged to call the Polaris Project Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888.
