welcome to "beyond the headlines," i'm cheryl jennings. today we're looking at a topic

many don't believe exists in the united states. human trafficking, happening here in the bay area. according to the san francisco human rights commission human traffickingç is the second largest fasting growing criminal activity in the world. people living in slavery conditions. women and girls make up 80% of the people trafficked transnationally and 1 million children are exploited. the perception is it only attracts women for sexual exploitation but it has a variety forms, forced slavery and bondage. a social media site is work to go end it. >> ever wonder who makes inexpensive clothes you bought this holiday? the short answer is millions of

slaves. not just poor, underpaid foreign workers. >> we're talking about someone forced to work without pay under threat of violence, being exploited and unable to walk away. >> 27 million people worldwide are in this condition. dylan says if you want to know how many slaves were used for the products you have, take his online test. his company and social website, slavery footprint.org, they're in the fight to stop slavery. you select what your household is like, the foods you eat, cosmetics, jewelry, electronics, clothes. you get the idea. at the end they give you the estimated slaves you indirectly employed to get those items. >> we believe that this is a shared value. nobody wants to buy products made with slavery and i don't think people want to sell product made with slavery.

>> the work starts with the producers of the commodity. a new california law requires the more than 3200 california companies that have are grows receipts of $100 million or more have to report whether or not their supply chain uses slave later. sarah is ready to apply pressure. >> i want to know so i stay away until i know for sure, 110%, they're not using slave labor to make the clothes. >> dylan says the law has as many teeth as the state attorney general wants to give. >> it allows them to do it on their own and talk about it. if you're not doing anything, this doesn't look good. >> cheryl: we have john vanek, an exert on human trafficking and retired lieutenant of the san jose police department. you headed up human trafficking task force until you retired, now you're talking about this and lecturing you.

clarify what it is. >> it's best defined by the trafficking victims protection act passed by congress in 2000. we're looked at the forced labor or exploitation, forced services could be variety of services, labor or sexual exploitation through force, frauded or coercion. three things. within the definition, it could be very broad but force, fraud or coercion compelling someone to do something they don't want to do. >> cheryl: how does somebody get into this? >> as simple as offering somebody a job. next thing you know you're on a path, victimized, held against your will, not paid. people may be telling you they're going to damage your reputation in your commute, say things about you that aren't true and next thing you know, you're forced to do something you don't want to do, provide a labor, perhaps a brothel,

perhaps prostituted on the street a domestic servant, perhaps working in a sweat shop. >> cheryl: it takes men, too. >> absolutely. >> most of these sound like women but both men and children. >> you would be surprised, particularly in the agricultural sector, it's occurring in the united states today. many of the people are men. construction labor, worldwide, involves men. boys, one of the biggest problems defined as human trafficking child so h soldiers, 300,000 are in that. >> cheryl: who is driving this demand? >> it can be driven at all levels, it can be driven from a single individual who for whatever reason feels they're entitled to have somebody work for them and she -- they

shouldn't have to pay. or a large level through international crimes. motivation can be brought. the money involved can be broad. it's a complex subject. >> cheryl: once you get caught up in this, because it's so huge, how do you get out? >> well, we're going to talk about that today. it's difficult because on its most basic levels we have to look at the victimization of people. how do we identify those individuals, how do we rescue them from situations and help them move from being a victim to a survivor of human trafficking. at the same time we have to build the infrastructure and capability of law enforcement at the local, state, federal and international levels to identify the crime and build cases against offenders. we need public store support to under the crime. we need other organization,

mobilizations and advocacy groups to help us understand. >> cheryl: if you suspect somebody might be enslaved, how do you report it? >> i would call your local law enforcement agency. look for a local provider in your community who services trafficking victims. if you're unclear, call the national human trafficking hot line 18882727888. it's manned 24 hours, # 7 days a week. exerts in human trafficking that can handle over 150 different languages and they have the network set up to get that information to those specialized providers and law enforcement agents. >> cheryl: thank you, john. appreciate your expertise and information. we do have to take a break. when we come back, we're going to learn more about what lawmakers are doing to combat

trafficking here in the bay cheeseburger macaroni? [ female announcer ] cheeserburger macaroni hamburger helper. now even cheesier and tastier. helpers. forty dishes, all delicious. gives us the most nutritious of gifts. but only when they are ready to be given. that's why green giant picks vegetables at their peak. ...and freezes them fast, locking in nutrients ...for you to unwrap. ♪ ho, ho, ho. green giant

welcome back to "beyond the headlines." we're talking about human trafficking and how to be more aware. joining us is the district attorney nancy o'malley of alameda county. she has established a program, the county established a program called heat watch. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> what is heat watch? >> it's a blueprint for how communities come together to

combat human trafficking. we realized the five components we feel are important are engaging lawmakers and policymakers to make sure we have resources and laws to both support the programs and to protect children and hold offenders accountable. it's critical to have law enforcement trained, vigorous protection, advocates trained to work and provide resources when we rescue. mostly children from being trafficked. lastly we need the community. just like neighborhood watch has a community looking and being the eyes and ears for law enforcement, so too is heat watch. >> cheryl: what kind of cases are you seeing? >> we have in the last four years since the law of human trafficking has been in existence in california, we've product almost 240 felony crimes resulting in 160 convictions.

we're aggressive. most cases involve children between 12 and 17. >> cheryl: what are had he doing, prostitution, drugs? >> we don't use the word prostitution and children in the same sentence. our message i are children of sexual abuse and exploitation. so what we see are children who are being forced into the commercial sex trade by traffickers. we see kids being moved from different communities where they're disoriented, isolated and then forced or coerced into engaging in commercial sex acts. >> cheryl: homeless, runaways? >> a large percentage of the individuals have been involved in the system through foster care or group homes but we know theory vulnerable. not only because they've had some challenging backgrounds and maybe their family like has not been very supportive or healthy for them, but we also see just

their youth. that oftentimes they fall prey to being victimized because the trafficker figured out how to lure them into this existence. >> cheryl: how can the community help you? >> well, one of the really strong messages we give in the county and across the state is recognize that these -- this is human trafficking trafficking. and that once we -- the community starts to recognize these children as victims of the crime and the exploitation they're suffering, then they'll have a more sensitive idea or impression of them. where that takes us from that point is that if someone's driving down the street and sew activity that looks like human trafficking, they pick up the phone and call 911. if there's a dangerous situation. we have a hot line in alameda county, a national hot line number. we want the community to be the eyes and ears, not to judge

these children but help protect them, rescue them and restore them to a healthy life. >> cheryl: thank you so much and thank you for the programs you're doing. >> thank you very much. >> cheryl: we'll put that out on twitter and facebook. >> thank you. >> cheryl: again we have to take a quick break but we're going to be back with the story of a trafficking survivor and what she is doing today to end commercial [ female announcer ] these are the crescents you love on a holiday. and these are the ones you'll love on a school night. pillsbury ham and cheese crescents. with just a few ingredients, you have an easy dinner. pillsbury ham and cheese crescents. school night ideas made easy. here's a better idea... pillsbury grands! flaky layers biscuits.

in just 15 minutes, the light delicate layers add a layer of warmth to your next dinner. pillsbury grands! dinner ideas made easy. >> cheryl: welcome back to "beyond the headlines."

we're talking about human trafficking and modern day slavery. a campaign got under way to place a statewide proposition on the november ballot that toughens penalties. the california against slavery act increases prison terms for those convicted of human trafficking and makes human traffickers register as sex offenders. a former victim says another aspect is it trains law enforcement to be more sensitive to the victims. >> when i was 14 years old i was caught in a car with a sexual act in his early 50s. i was treated no differently from the gentleman with me and any other situation he would have been considered a pedophile. >> proponents of the ballot measure need to collecy signatures by april put it put t before voters. in the studio is the young lady

from the sage project, saundra domingue, who sponsored trafficking -- experienced trafficking firsthand. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> cheryl: tell me about the sage project. what is it? >> sage is an intensive outpatient program. we provide services for women and girls, women 18 and up. girls 12 to 17. we provide an array of services such as substance abuse services, mental health services, therapy, emdr therapy. >> cheryl: so very comprehensive. >> yes. >> cheryl: tell me what happened to you, please. >> when i was 17 years old, there was a lot of of physical d emotional abuse in the home.

so i left home. and i fell into the hands of pimps and was lured into being sexually exploited by them for a number of years. >> cheryl: how did you get out of it? >> i went to prison. i went to prison and i did a term of two years. and when i was in prison, i engaged in the cosmetology class and when i got up a opened a beauty salon and that's how you got out of prostitution. >> cheryl: but it took going to prison to realize what happened to you. >> yes. well, cheryl, it took me getting employed by faith to be educated, to understand what i had endured and gone through and how i had been traumatized. >> cheryl: now you talk about it

publicly just like this. >> yes, i do. >> cheryl: if somebody finds themself in this situation, what would you recommend they do? >> i recommend that they don't give up, they know that there's life after prostitution. and they could come to places like sage and heal and i would recommend for young girl or woman to come to sage to heel and receive the services and to be

>> cheryl: welcome back to "beyond the headlines." we're learning about human trafficking and what each of us can do. nobody knows how many slave

laborers are brought into the united states every year but the bay area was among the first. people from all over the world come to learn how to combat slavery in their countries. >> for me it's fascinating work. >> these people are furiously scribbling notes while experts in the field-of-slavery and labor exploitation explains. >> we find victims and help them through the survival process. >> san jose police lieutenant john vanek runs a task force with his department, f.b.i., i.c.e., u.s. attorney's office and other agencies. >> we've identified over 150 trafficking victims in the past few years and are barely scraping the surface. >> the police can't do it alone. lieutenant vanek is talking to

enroll es. within a couple of years we learned this is great, but it's important to get people engaged in what they can do. >> i feel this issue has been long neglected in modern society and needs to be addressed. >> what's important about the academy is it kind of connects the modern abolitionist, the normal person to the wider movement and that's what we need to end slavery. >> in the bay area we're most familiar with trafficking into the sex trade. young women brought to america and forced to work at prostitutes until the police or time catches up. there are other types of

trafficking. >> only about 20% of victims have come from the commercial sex trade. victims are coming from domestic servitude and other service, debt bondage and that occurs through the country. >> these students go back and try to practice what they'vehed been preached or together with public and private organizations to get people free. how do you spot someone who may be trafficked? they can't come and go as they please, work long hours for little pay and are fearful and anxious. >> this is different than just another cause because there are actual people. there are lives that are being violated. there are people that are being enslaved in ways that i don't think we quite get in this time and this century. >> cheryl: in the studio from the university of san francisco,

professor doctor david batstone who founded the not for sale campaign and slaverymap.org. we started work orgen this five i can't have years ago. >> it was very unknown then and at that stage, we did a special on how the university of san francisco students were trained to document and investigating trafficking. >> you had your own personal experience that launched your awareness. >> it shows how invisible it is right in front of us. there was a restaurant in berkeley i went to regularly and i learned it was the center of human trafficking ring. they brought hundreds of young people from india into the united states for slavery. >> how did you discover that? >> there was a gas leak in the apartment where a trafficker kept victims and when the police came, the young people said get us out, rescue us. i said we can get you from the gas. they said no, from him. that was a shock because

identify been going for years and never noticed this. >> that's enough to make you -- >> for me it was like what can i do? that's how it started. >> you took it to your school. >> i did. i took a year sabbatical from the university and went to every continent and understood how trafficking works and came back and said this is something not in the consciousness of most u.s. students. i started with student then p/s for sale as an agency group. >> i had notes that said you have different projects for not just students but businesses, people in academia and more. >> it was a great silicon valley company, juniper networks. they built a tool, empower. you fill in who you are, your skills and passions and we give you practical things you can do. >> what are some of those? everything from taking an academy course we just saw the

clip as well as doing a walkathon or perhaps being involved in research on how your tv was made or the jacket you're wearing. >> sure. now, remember seeing -- i went to your website and saw the slavery map. >> that's a tool we built with google technology and allows tows document to a he street corner what kind of traffic is happening. whether you live in walnut creek, san jose or beijing, we document cases. you understand where they're coming from and what we can do. >> are people inputting information? >> almost all input comes from those who went through the academy. we trained over 3,000 people, john vanek and the f.b.i. and others. how to go about identifying what's happening in your community. if it's a live case we link you with law enforcement. if it's a case documented we put it on the map.

>> i like the term abolitionist academy. >> it's atoric, historic, fightg slavery, i'm an abolitionist. there's a lot of dumb activism out there. >> cheryl: what was your advice to people? we ask every guest, how do you recognize that person who is a victim? >> there's lots of signs but one is they have no ability to operate freely. they're under control and they are not allowed to talk to you or otherwise have movement. so that's one area where i might meet someone locally in my community but we created a phone app for your destroyed or andror iphone. you can walk into a store, scan the bar code and it tells you whether it was a product of re enhanced.f people's lives

it's called free to work and it's free. >> cheryl: thank you for what you're doing. >> it's a privilege. >> unfortunately we're out of time. thanks to our guests for joining us. that's it for this edition of "beyond the headlines." we have information about our guests available for you on our website at abc7news.com/community and on facebook at abc7 community affairs and follow me on twitter. i'm cheryl jennings, have a great week. we'll see you next time. i'm rie and keeps ca

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