Human Trafficking — A Unified Call to Action

At the 2008 Border Governors Conference, California First Lady Maria Shriver hosted a Call to Action event to raise the profile of human trafficking and its impacts.  Join Maria Shriver in helping to prevent and combat the effects of human trafficking in California by accessing the resources below.

10 Ways WE Can Stop Human Trafficking (PDF)

Share your GOOD SAMARITAN story by sending it to pressoffice@CaliforniaVolunteers.ca.gov

Human Trafficking Overview

Human trafficking is compelled servitude in which individual will is subverted through coercion, fraud and force. Human trafficking victims are normally forced into one or two types of servitude:

• Forced labor — domestic servitude, agriculture, construction, etc.
• Forced commercial sex

Human trafficking occurs in almost all countries throughout the world. It is nearly impossible to know the true number of victims due to the secretive nature of the crimes, the highly organized trafficking networks, and the inability of human trafficking victims to escape and/or come to the attention of government authorities.

• Estimates range from 4-27 million people are in forced servitude at any given time worldwide;
• The US State Department estimates there are between 14,500 and 17,500 trafficked individuals in the US at any one time; and,
• A study by UC Berkeley found that over 80 percent of documented cases in California occurred in urban areas, mainly in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose.

What You Can Do

Nonprofit organizations throughout California are working to prevent human trafficking and provide services to victims. You can assist in these efforts by volunteering your time with local organizations — a listing of organizations in need of volunteer assistance is below.

Please note that due to the sensitive nature of human trafficking victim support and recovery, almost all related volunteer opportunities require significant screening, training (40-60 hours), and an ongoing commitment of time — these are not casual volunteer opportunities.

Volunteer roles generally include activities such as assisting with shelter operations, conducting public education and outreach/event staffing, social work/case management and providing administrative support.