Human trafficking spurs community discussion to look for solutions

Children falling victim to human trafficking is one of the fastest growing problems across the country. That’s the message from a group that’s coming together to look for solutions on the Central Coast.

On Tuesday night, the group focused on solving human trafficking, revealed some startling information at it’s first formal discussion between Monterey and Santa Cruz counties on the issue. They said 30 million people are trafficked globally, including cases right here on the Central Coast.

Deborah Pembrook said she’s a human sex-trafficking trade survivor. From early elementary age to 17 years old in Ohio, she was sold by a trusted adult in the community. With very little evidence to prove the crime against her, Pembrook said she fled only to find little support for the help she needed.

“When I left I came out here to the Santa Cruz area and had a lot of trouble finding resources after such a traumatic experience,” Pembrook said.

On Tuesday night, Pembrook along with several more people from police officers to social service counselors, turned to the community for guidance on creating a plan to help victims. The Coalition Against Human Trafficking said immigrants are often the target.

“There are a lot of myths out there where people think if you cooperate with law enforcement they’re going to deport you and that’s absolutely not true,” said Capitola Police Chief Rudy Escalante.

Escalante explained there’s visa options for victims and witnesses of human trafficking to encourage them to come forward knowing they have rights. That’s something Pembrook is hoping more people will start talking about, to spread the information throughout the community. She said the average victim is only 12 years old and many times they’re not the only ones who suffer.

“For many trafficking survivors there’s threats not just to themselves but to their whole family,” Pembrook said.

NewsChannel 5 found out the deputies in Monterey County who handle sex crimes said information information from the national hotline is usually relayed to them within a day or so.

If you think you’ve seen anything suspicious or someone who may be a victim of human trafficking, you can call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline at 888-373-7888.