Human trafficking of minors for sexual exploitation was the focus of the community town hall meeting hosted at Yolo Middle School last Thursday by NCLUSD counselors Eduardo Davila and Julie Aguiniga.

Trafficking is a broad term to define the act of buying or selling goods illegally. Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, federal law defines sex trafficking as “a commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age.” 

“Sex trafficking is the number one illegal industry in the county,” states Troy Stein, CEO of Without Permission, a local nonprofit organization that works directly with trafficking victims in the Central Valley.  Stein was one of the featured speakers of the evening. 

“Of those trafficked nationwide, 51 percent are children,” Stein said. “Locally the median age of victims is 16 with our youngest victim being an 11-year-old boy.” 

Human trafficking does not discriminate against age, sex, race, or sexual orientation; so education is a key component to the prevention of trafficking as it can affect anybody, anywhere, anytime.

As of January 1, 2024, 887 people have been helped through Without Permission’s outreach since its founding in 2010.  Of these victims, 91 percent call the Central Valley their home and 98 percent call California their home. 

“These are our kids, they play on our ball teams, they go to our schools,” Stein said. “Why would they [still] go to school [if they are being trafficked] you ask? Sometimes it’s Mom or Dad that are trafficking them. They live in our neighborhoods and we need to be paying attention and looking out for these children.”

Stein notes that there are four identifiable methods of trafficking: familial, gang, buyer perpetrated, and Romeo & Juliet.  Familial is a common method where a victim’s family uses a child for exploitation.  

“We have a survivor who was exploited by their grandmother with a meth addiction and another with a dad who went to his daughter and said he needed to pay the rent and needed some photos - these are examples of familial methods of human trafficking,” Stein states. 

“Similarly, if you’re part of a gang it is kind of like a family and you’ll provide some resources for them and sell yourself to help the gang,” Stein said. “Sometimes that goes along with the Romeo & Juliet method where the ‘boyfriend pimp’ befriends a girl who might have some vulnerabilities.  Maybe she’s never had a boyfriend before and he makes her feel like she’s a million dollars and he draws her into a relationship. He’s older than her, so he breaks her down over time and grooms her to separate her from her family.  Maybe he gets her a phone so he can track her and keep tabs on her and lure her away from her family and friends by buying her things to make her feel special.  This is a common method we see in our school systems.  The last method is the buyer perpetrated where it could be that the coach says to a player that ‘if you do this for me then I’ll do this for you.”

Stein also spoke about “10 Warning Signs” that someone may be in an at-risk situation.  These do not exclusively mean that something is wrong but could be a sign and should be taken seriously.  Ask yourself if this person:

• Is excessively monitored or controlled by a supposed guardian or older partner who claims to provide for their needs.

• Becomes detached or suddenly isolated from family members and friends.

• Is unable to give answers about their schedules, homelife, living and work location, or conditions.

• Has numerous inconsistencies in his/her story and contradictory personal information (age, place of birth, family).

• Has excessive security measures at his/her home or work (i.e, security cameras, boarded or covered windows) or consistent movement of men/women at his/her home or work location.

• Shows signs of physical or sexual abuse (bruises, cuts, burns, submissiveness, malnourishment); appears fearful, anxious, depressed, jumpy

• Suffers from substance abuse problems (alcohol and/or drugs), an array of other psychological disorders, sexually transmitted diseases, or chronic illnesses.

• Carries multiple hotel key cards, lots of money, sharp objects (weapons)

• There is a sudden presence of an older boyfriend

• Gets a tattoo with a name that is not their own, or are reluctant to explain

The Town Hall session encouraged families and community members to bring their kids from 5th grade and up. “It is important to speak to your kids about this and not hide them from sensitive topics,” Eduardo Davila (one of the organizers and school district counselor) urged.

Without Permission’s guide to help with the conversation with your children:

• Just do it. Talk to your kids so that they trust you and are willing to talk without about anything. If they are being groomed by some predator, you want to know it.

• Talk to your kids about what to do if they are threatened. Yell, run, fight. They need to be told that it is ok to behave this way when they are under attack.

• Talk to your kids about what is happening in the world. This goes for any threatening topics and you will have to adjust the type of words you use to be age-appropriate.  Hiding your kids from the dangers of this world will not protect them when they are faced with a situation that could alter their lives in a matter of seconds.

• If appropriate, use the internet to communicate with your kids. Know what they are looking at, what social media outlets they use and who they are talking to. It is harder these days, but communicating with your kids to know who their “friends” are, both in real life and virtually, is important.

• Know when your child meets someone new and where they met them. When they come home from school, from the mall, from sports practice, ask them how their day was and if they met anyone new.

The dangers of human trafficking are not just white vans pulling up in a neighborhood to kidnap children.  The “white van” could be disguised as an Instagram follower, a fellow gamer on a server, a member of an online Twitch or Discord community where your kids discuss their favorite games and watch their favorite streamers.  Online predators lurk in all areas and can infiltrate our homes without adults even realizing it’s happening.

Amy Wolfe, from the Legacy Health Endowment spoke about the dangers of social media and gaming.  

“You need to know who they are talking to online,” Wolfe said. “From gaming servers to social media, you need to help them navigate those avenues and protect them from danger as best you can.” 

Included in the guides she provided in both English and Spanish for attendees to take home, there was a glossary of terms to look out for including 1174 (nude club or meet in person), GNOC (get naked on camera), KPC (keeping parents clueless), P911 or PIR (parent nearby or in room); all of which could be cause for concern.  Being informed about the ever-changing climate online is imperative to helping our kids as they learn to navigate it as well.

Event organizers Davila and Aguiniga were inspired to focus on this topic after watching the film “Sound of Freedom,” which Stein also mentioned as an impactful movie to watch regarding human trafficking.  “We started seeing other local communities also addressing this topic and knew this was something Newman needed as well,” Aguiniga noted.  

This town hall is among the many ways that NCLUSD is utilizing a grant from the Student Behavioral Health Incentive Program (SBHIP) which has also funded a mental health clinician for the elementary and alternative education sites as well as a student assistant helping with the high school and junior high. 

 “We are very lucky with the mental health support systems in place within our school district.  We are well staffed and supported by a great admin team at the school and district levels,” Davila noted.

Access to mental health resources can be a prevention tool against human trafficking. A student can become vulnerable to trafficking if they seek validation from outside sources.  A student may not realize that they are being trafficked because they feel they are in control and giving consent to the acts they are providing.  Some may also be struggling at home and want to run away and they become susceptible to trafficking within the first 24 to 48 hours of doing so. Stein mentions that, “victims may struggle to survive and don’t think twice about exchanging a sex act for something as small as a hamburger, but for some it’s what they view as a need for survival.”  By having access to counselors who can help prevent these situations from happening, students have another avenue to crisis prevention.

“We know that there are so many topics that are important to discuss within our community,” Davila mentioned.  “Last year we discussed Dangers of Fentanyl and this year with human trafficking; it is important for us to be preventative versus reactive. We want to inform the community with one town hall at a time,” Davila stated. 

Both Davila and Aguiniga agreed that the hard work from arranging these town halls does not discourage them from doing it, but rather empowers them to continue to bridge the community together and ensure that everyone is informed and passes along what they’ve learned.

Video from this town hall is posted on both the Newman Crows Landing Unified School District’s website as well as their YouTube Channel.

To find more information about Human Trafficking go to:

Locally: Sexual Exploitation Support Hotline: 209-277-7758 or visit withoutpermission.org

Instagram: @breakfreestanco

National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-3737-888 or text 233733 or visit polarisproject.org