. welcome to "beyond the headlines." i'm cheryl jennings today. our show focuses on human trafficking, a modern form of human slavery that involves controlling someone for forced labor, sexual exploitation or both of the california department of justice says human trafficking is a $32 billion business worldwide and that makes it the second top criminal enterprise around the globe right behind drug trafficking. one of the nation's hot spots for human trafficking, sadly, happens to be california. we have someone here today who has lived through and survived this dangerous ordeal. katie hart is here to talk about her experience and how she managed to escape.

katie, i am so proud of you. >> thank you. >> and the fact that this is your very first on-camera interview with us is very special, so thank you for that. >> thank you for having me. >> so your story began when you were just a teenager. so take me back. >> yes. i was 18 years old when i first moved to san francisco. i didn't know anyone. like many teenagers, i was insecure, i didn't have much confidence, i wasn't sure the direction my life was headed. my plan was to establish residency and start san francisco state. it took a turn when i met my exploiter. >> so what did he do? >> he pretended to be my boyfriend for many months. he took me on trips and courted me and shopping and made me fall in love with him. and then before i knew it, he started saying things that i needed to do things for him in order to prove my love for him. >> so there were some things that you didn't want to do but

you did them anyway? >> yeah. i started working at the local strip clubs in san francisco. that was a way to further isolate me from society, my family, my friends. >> how bad did it get, katie? >> it got to the point where i was working 98 hours a week. i would work 90-day stretches in a row with no breaks. when i wasn't at work, he would sleep deprive me in order to keep me under his control. >> oh, my goodness. how did you finally get away from all of that and get away from it? >> i actually started sleeping in the closet at the club that i was working at. the management knew that i was hitting a wall and need smed extra support so that's what they had to offer. i got my strength back. i met a woman who said she was willing to help me and finally one saturday afternoon, i packed all my stuff in a garbage bag and escaped. >> good for you. and now what are you doing? you went to school, you graduated? >> yeah, i just graduated from uc berkeley with a degree in

sociology, which is very fitting. it's all about deconstructing society, what's good, what's normal, what's not and how those ideas in society came to be. i'm working with the san francisco police department special victims unit and their human trafficking department and i'm also going to be starting 50 trainings in 28 counties, training social workers about the issue, because oftentimes kids in the welfare system are more likely to be victims of human trafficking. >> of course. you've really turned your life around. i have to ask you, though, what was it like telling your family about this? >> it was probably one of the most difficult things i've ever done. i didn't want them to experience pain. i didn't want them to blame themselves for what had happened to me. and then once we got through like the initial shock and difficult part, it's just been fantastic. our relationship has never been better. >> and now you're taking your negative experiences. i met you at a forum recently. >> yes. >> which is so great.

that's why i'm so proud that you're doing this with me today. >> thank you. >> what advice do you have for other people who might be trapped in the same situation? >> i think that you can oftentimes feel like you've betrayed yourself and i just want people to know that that healing process won't begin until you can get away from your exploiter. i know that it's really terrifying. but there is a better life out there. there are people who are willing to help. >> it took you quite a bit of doing to get to this place. you've probably had to have a lot of therapy? >> yes, a lot of trauma therapy. actually my therapy was funded through the victims compensation program in california, which is an excellent program and i was able to get some top-notch trauma therapy and it has completely changed me. >> i'm so thrilled for you and thank you for the work that you're going to do in your future. >> thank you. >> we can touch base. thank you. we do have to take a break. coming up next, oakland police

chief talks about how the bay area is a hot spot for human trafficking. stay with us, we'll be right back.

welcome back to "beyond the headlines." we're talking about human trafficking. one of the biggest ways human trafficking victims are transported around the country are through airports. matt keller filed this report last year. >> reporter: organizers say signs of human trafficking at an airport include a person not having the usual items when checking in or boarding a flight, not being able to speak for themselves or not having the freedom to separate from another person. it's not just international flights. experts say more people are actually moved within the united states with the bay area a popular destination. >> what's happening is pimps and traffickers are taking advantage of that and saying, hey, come to california, it's the land of promise. instead of coming here for viable work and legitimate work, they're actually showing up and then being exploited for their labor. >> reporter: sfo held a similar

training session last march. the goal is to get all bay area airports trained to spot human trafficking by 2016. that's because the super bowl will be held at levi's stadium in santa clara, attracting a huge number of visitors. >> they do things they wouldn't normally do at home. trafficking victims get moved around the country to be ready for an increase in demand for entertainment, for services, for prostitution around these large sporting events. >> reporter: the focus for the super bowl isn't just on the airports. organizers here say they will train people working in the restaurants and hotel industries as well. in san jose, matt keller, abc 7 news. >> joining me in the studio right now is the police chief of oakland, sean whent. thank you for being here, chief. >> my pleasure. >> i saw matt's story and it's just so hard for everyday folks to think that the super bowl can draw this kind of situation. >> absolutely. it's a demand sort of thing where you bring a bunch of people into the area, somebody is going to try and meet that

demand that's out there for sexual activities and that's how these primarily young girls ending up being victims administrator you'. >> you've within working on this issue a long times and our minds are changing about how we think about prostitution, i think. i hope. >> absolutely. oakland for a long period of time has grappled with prostitution issues. more recently we've changed our approach to it in that we try to treat the prostitutes as victims essentially. many of them or the vast majority are human trafficking victims and so they're not out there -- it's not a career choice that they made to go into this. they are being coerced forcefully in some cases to go out there and partake in those activities. >> so we talked about the super bowl. i imagine other large-scale events would also involve human trafficking as well? conventions, for example? >> certainly.

anything that will bring extra people into the area, out of towners in hotel rooms, whatever, provides opportunity and a demand that somebody tries to meet. >> now, you talk about how we're kind of evolving in the way we're thinking about it because we're talking about this and it's 2014 and it just seems like all of a sudden it's really come to the surface that children are being trafficked. >> yeah, no, it's very tragic. and so that's why the police department really has entered into a partnership with the district attorney's office and the fbi and service providers to try and rescue girls from this lifestyle. >> how do you make that determination? when you go on a raid, you go into a situation, everybody gets busted basically. >> well, by -- initially, yeah, they're engaging in prostitution, which is a crime. but usually when we do the raid, we have the service providers with us and we make those contacts immediately, trying to get services for those girls and

ultimately the threat of criminal prosecution can sometimes help us then go after the pimp. and that's the person that's actually putting the girl out there and that's who our real target is. >> so this must have been -- must involve a lot of training on the part of your officers, a whole change of thinking, then? >> oh, absolutely. we've done a tremendous amount of training and, yeah, absolutely. complete mindset change in how we approach this problem. >> do you have special courses for your officers and free education too? >> sure. during our continuing professional training that our officers do on an annual basis, we incorporated a block i think in the last year it was a two-hour block of instruction specific to this topic. and ongoing. so our officers are well trained, recognize what to look for, it's important. >> how can we stop this? is there a way to stop it? >> well, i think we're going

about it the right way in that we're trying to rescue girls and then get their cooperation going after the pimps. i think that there's a demanding side to this in that if you can create a significant deterrent to people who are trying to purchase the services of our victims, make it as significant enough penalty that they would say, gee, i don't want to come to oakland or i don't want to engage in this at all, there has to be some ramifications for people trying to purchase these services. >> and it's as easy as making a phone call. if somebody sees something, you want them to say something. >> absolutely. give us a call. this is a priority for us. we'll get out there. we certainly wanting to deter type of activity. it's a black mark on the community and it's so tragic primarily for the young victims absolutely. >> all right, chief, thank you so much. we appreciate you taking time to come and talk about this very important issue. >> my pleasure. >> we do have to take a break. coming up, we're going to talk about anti-trafficking

initiatives and some resources to find help, so stay with us, we'll be right back. gotten something that's been oout of reach for far too long.e health insurance. how? they enrolled through covered california. it's the health insurance marketplace where you'll find a range of plans from leading health insurance companies that offer you the best combination of quality, rates and benefits. and, through covered california, you may get financial help to pay for coverage. it's based on income. to get covered, you've got to get going. open enrollment ends february 15th. visit coveredca.com today.

welcome back to "beyond the headlines." we've been talking about human trafficking in the bay area. a big crackdown in child sex trafficking happened here in the bay area and abc 7 news was embedded with fbi and local police on one of those raids. the fbi calls it modern day slavery and the agency's

director says these are america's children who go missing and are then exploited. police from every bay area county took part in this sting. abc 7 news reporter vic lee filed this report. >> he kind of like wheeled me into it. >> reporter: so you were tricked into this? >> kinda, yes. yes. i was scared and stuck with him six months. >> reporter: shawna is one of 11 women taken into custody friday night in san rafael. one was eight months pregnant. all were interviewed by police and advocates from support groups. if they had no outstanding violations, the women were given options other than jail. >> they'll be able to get resources and get help to get them off the street or perhaps change their lifestyle ir. >> reporter: all the contacts were made through the internet, sites commonly used to solicit prostitution, like my red book. they took to the streets of cities like oakland. they looked for young street

walkers that may have been trafficked. the three-day operation here in the bay area was successful. >> they rescued six children. the youngest victim was 15 years old and they also arrested 13 pimps. >> he's popping his collar. 47, 46, knocking on the door. the door's open. >> reporter: in san rafael, fbi and police also targeted the johns, those who responded to solicitations over the internet by decoys. police rented rooms at three motels. as they arrived, they were arrested. all seemed embarrassed. some cried. one john even soiled his pants. vic lee, saechabc 7 news. >> more than 100 cities were involved in the cross country trafficking sting. with me is the district attorney. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> we were talking about chief whent about how our language and thinking is changing about the word prostitution and the word

"johns" now. >> we've discovered when we refer to particularly children or minors who are being forced into the commercial sex world, they're not prostitutes. they are being prostituted. and we really talk about victims of human trafficking as victims. they're survivors of trafficking. we also look at adult sex workers who are -- would formerly be referred to as prostitutes. >> sure. >> what we found is when we use terminology like that, it tends to marginalize people. when we marginalize them, they're less likely to be able to get the resources because we just -- they just don't get offered to them. they're thought of as people who are on the fringe of our society. >> and we kind of dismiss them of the and so the term "johns" in connection with the trafficker, we should get rid of that word. >> i'm a proponent for getting rid of the term "john." it gives a nice label to people doing very bad things. we see some of these individuals who are purchasing sex from

children. they're trolling the streets. >> for young children? >> for young children. some as young as 10 years old, 11. oftentimes the younger, the better. even if they look young, that's the interest of some of these individuals. so when we label it with a term called "john," there are a lot of nice men named john and it doesn't really -- it gives them a walk. it doesn't hold them as accountable for the acts they are engaging in. >> so you are now prosecuting these people trafficking the women and the children and you've got some amazing resources to help. >> we do. we have created a program called heat watch. heat stands for human exploitation and trafficking. the watch part of it is really bringing neighborhood watch to human trafficking. engaging the community and sensitizing the community. but our program has a number of components. one is making sure we're training the police so they know what they're seeing. making sure that we're

vigorously prosecuting the traffickers. so far my office has prosecuted over 400 traffickers with about an 82% conviction rate. >> wow. >> and most of those cases have involved a minor victim of human trafficking. we also know that our community-based groups are very important to the rescue, restoration and aftercare of those that have been separated away from a trafficker. lastly, our public awareness campaign. >> so talk about the campaigns. heat watch rated yo, a novel series? >> first we want to educate the community about what human trafficking is. that's where heat watch radio has been a success on itunes. some of the shows are basic human trafficking, what is it. some talk about more intricate issues like a victim that has a developmental disability that's being trafficked and how complicated that can become and make people aware.

the other part, our audrey series, is a series of graphic novels, a three-part series. that's really designed to go into the schools so that we're not responding to human trafficking, we're preventing human trafficking. we want kids to be educated, not scared. and we do it in an age appropriate way. we want them to be educated about what this is and what can happen. so if they ever get approached or someone they know gets approached, they have a better awareness for themselves. >> we just of a few seconds left. what can people in the community do? >> well, if you see something, say something. we've adopted that slogan and it's really important to us. i think also that the more we talk about human trafficking and the more we show our outrage about what's happening to our children and what's happening to our women and girls, there are estimates between 100,000 to 300,000 girls and women a year in america are being sex trafficked. the more we talk about it, the more we can change it and stop it. >> thank you so much for your information and for educating me

about this too. i appreciate it. we do have to take a break, don't go anywhere. we'll be back with more in just a moment.

welcome back to "beyond the headlines." we're talking about human trafficking. the nonprofit called not for sale released a recent report regarding human trafficking in silicon valley. they surveyed 230 victims. the victims range in age from 10 to 60 years old. more than 85% are female. over half are born in the united states. many suffer from some form of abuse. physical, sexual abuse and parental neglect. join meeg in the studio right now to talk about this is dr. david batstoerngs tne. david, you and i talked about this when you first started programs at usf for your

students. >> almost eight years ago. it found me, human trafficking in the bay area. i wasn't looking for it. a local restaurant here, hundreds of kids from india brought into the san francisco bay area forced to work in restaurants and then taken to fruit and vegetable fields, brothels, construction crews here and in the bay yarea. >> you've transformed this into something that's help people become not just survivors but they can thrive. >> you know, after that experience, i really wanted to understand it. i went around the world and did an investigation. then we started projects in thailand, peru, romania, and around the world. but we haven't done anything in our own backyard. how do we go upstream, not just pulling bodies out, getting people out an saying you're free, because the next question is i'm free for what? >> how do you go forward. >> so we started programming here in the bay area and it's around the notion let's reinvent the bay area so no one is taken

advantage of. or being exploited in our own backyard. >> how does that work? >> we created a training program where we work with a whole range of shelters and services in the bay area. let us work with those individuals who you believe are able to start doing training and that training program is about how to get a bank account, how to show up for a job on time every day, how to get skills that are technical or retail oriented and put them into one of our own companies that we've started. so we have a cafe here in the bay area, one on market street and one in the dogpatch. so two cafes and they give training in baristas and retail. then they go to companies like zynga and other companies that support them in the bay area. >> how do you pay for this and what's the success rate so far? >> in the true spirit of entrepreneurship we don't go

after government contracts and after big foundation money. we really look for donations from bay area people who believe in the program and want to get behind it. so we fund it through that program but also through the profits that we generate through our companies. when you buy a coffee there, you're not only getting great coffee, you're also supporting our work. the success rate is fantastic. we're seeing that these young people now don't see themselves as victims or survivors of trafficking. i'm an ex-slave. but rather i have a skill set. i'm a retail person, i'm a barista, i work at a tech company. so we really want to promote that idea that everyone has a future in the bay area and no one will be left behind. >> how are other companies outside the silicon valley responding to you? >> what really encourages me is that companies see the power of this. using business engines to bring about social change. juniper networks, a fortun 500 company have gotten behind us

full blast and they would like to not only employ some of our folks but also use their own facility as a way to train people in the bay area to go beyond where they are today and to have a future that they're proud of. >> we have about 30 seconds left. how do people get in touch with your program if they are in the thick of it like katie was in our first segment? >> well, we have great connections throughout the bay area with programs like missy like sage. also we have a hub. just walk into our hub down about half a mile from the ballpark on third street. get involved. come visit us. have a coffee and learn about how your company or you as an individual can get involved here in the bay area in our own backyard. >> great job. thank you so much. appreciate your being here and thank you for what you're doing. >> thank you. >> we've got to go, we're out of time. so thank you for joining us. for more information about today's program go to our website, abc7news.com/community and go to facebook or follow me on twitter. thanks for joining us.

have a great week, bye-bye.

out computed are excited. i think this oakland reside time >> oakland's new mayor starts tomorrow and has plans to clean up the city. tomorrow marks a new day in oakland. the job holds many challenges, namely reducing crime. cornell bernard both with the mayor-elect who says she is ready to roll up her sleeves and get to work. reporter: libby says she cannot wait to