that we offer at the monarch services. for girls ages 12-17 years old. we must do everything we can to bring resources. (applause) thank you. and support to these brave women and children who traffic right here in our own backyard. i am grateful for this tremendous award and the commitment through hope, restoration and a new life, to human trafficking survivors of all ages. thank very much. (applause) >> good morning everyone. i want to thank everyone for having us here today and what an honor it is today. thank you to the human rights commission. i probably will not remember to thank everyone in this room that has been supported not only in my work but in the work with the

client and the survivors that we work with in the community. i want to start by thanking mayor lee for the authorization of the women's act, a key piece of legislation. (applause) this award is special but in some ways the work should always continue to live on beyond just me as an individual, beyond any individual in the work should always live on in us together when we talk about collaborating in sfr san francisco. for the long-term in the future. the asian pacific legal outreach was founded in 1975 to promote cultural and legalistic services to the most marginalized in this community and i had the benefit of

standing on the shoulders of giants with the agency had a sister relationship with other agencies amazing agency such as the asian women shelter, cameron house and arica. in this fight against domestic violence, what is legal work? what is a restraining order out a piece of paper if there is no shelter or safe place? such as the ones that -- provide for the survivors. but is a -- together these agencies created in 2001, a collaborative as of october 2013 we have expanded the collaborative to consist of legal outreach, asian women shelter, arica and --

to reflect the diversity of the needs of our clients. our mission remains true. to see the not as victims but to talk about what resilience and courage mean. not only for women and children, people of all genders. people often forget the elderly. people over 25 countries and a multitude of industries. basically the industry that you can be forced to work in, trafficking and forced labor them your current. millions of people are trafficked worldwide. needs to

make the top of our policymakers. political instability and other issues increase vulnerability to trafficking and other types of violent experiences. violence is interconnected. we cannot ignore the dynamics we talk about . being aware of anti- human trafficking efforts and anti-domestic violence, and sexual assault, other abuse concerns that affect our society and community. as of january first, 1863, president lincoln declared that the emancipation proclamation would take effect that they. here we are about 150 some years later we still see slavery in the form of trafficking and forced labor in our community. in the fight the focus is often on education and awareness but it's not enough. we need direct services. we need to raise our voices and bush congress and let them

know that the united states must recommit to putting resources to ending trafficking. and comprehensive immigration reform. and statewide. we should continue to fight for legislation like the domestic worker to live rights of other things that promote marginalization of our clients. at the end of the day and work with survivors we need to understand and listen and let them know that the work goes on. i want to thank -- a personal mentor. she has really been a mentor; she challenges us and says we are not powerless. what about ...? that is the question we should always ask

ourselves. thank you. (applause) >> thank you again to mayor ed lee who has to leave and catch a plane. thank you. (applause) now i would like to call on supervisor carmen chu who has been fantastic and is been really outspoken; she has spoken so often and so well. it is a pleasure to have you here. >> supervisor chu: i want to thank nancy, and the department, and the commission. i want to recognize my colleague amelia cohen a strong supporter. i want to thank and congratulate the awardees and thank you for the work that you do to bring awareness and continue to fight and i want to thank the department heads who are here, annemarie conroy who is here.

i'm glad that you're here because we will need all of your help to continue this effort. we talk about human trafficking and human trafficking awareness month which begins january eleventh, it's not about this month only. it's the opportunity for us to highlight the issue but it really is something that we ought to be working on all the time when we have the budget before us. we ought to be thinking about it when we have legislation before us, as department heads and you talk about coordination, we ought to be thinking about it. i want to thank you all for being here and i hope that you bring with you sort of a renewed dedication to deal with this issue. is something that we don't need to forget about. it is often hidden. today i want to congratulate everybody. i also want to introduce our speaker that you will be hearing from today who has an amazing story to tell. i had the opportunity to speak you little with minjang (sounds

like) earlier. she has served as an inspiration earlier for us all. the healing she wants to bring not only for her own experiences but for many other individuals who may have been human trafficked or had other traumas. it is an inspiration to see someone persevere through such a difficult ordeal and bring a strong voice and transform our own life into something that helps others. and so i am pleased and honored to be able to introduce to you all minjeng (sounds like) (applause) >> thanks everyone. i am a survivor.

it's an interesting way to be introduced to the crowd. it's usually a secret that you only tell your close friends. a brief history. typical story. my traffickers were my parents, severely abused at home, sold for sex and the city and throughout the south bay. the real secret i'm here to tell you is that i have an extreme, hidden desire to be a dancer. the thing i love about dancers is that they seem so graceful and in their body. and curious about what their bodies are doing and flaunt with the music they feel fluid.

there's something about that grace that i aspire to. be there is one thing that i can tell you about human trafficking and being sold in being abused as a child, the sense of fluidity and grace i had to fight for. also the sense of safety in my own body. you might hear a little shaking in my voice, physically shaking, not because there is danger to my life now and yet that history of almost 21 years of enslavement still lives with me. i am here today. this is part of my training to be a dancer. i will not bust out any moves. i am working to be fluid in my body. i ask you think about this issue did not just think about having severed so many sexual assaults and rapes and molested by my parents and treated as

a slave. think about the psychological change and the emotional poverty i had to face. i would like to share a quote, mark lagon, the head of the state department trafficking office. trafficking as a crime and human dignity. i look up the definition of dignity, once about worthiness and one about self-respect. human trafficking is a crime that robs people of their human dignity. is the traffickers dignity question? why is my dignity question? one of the definitions of dignity is self-respect. that is what was stolen from

me, not my self-respect but my sense of self-respect. i stand before you and up until when i started speaking i questioned why i am here. why do i get to speak. my fellow survivors who cannot speak english. why not the young man or boy because he was not a girl being raped? why not somebody who has tattoos and did not get a college education? because of those why's i'm here. i can give them voice. those people, my friends, the survivor friends of those who did not survive, there is an equal amount of self-respect you give me today. that is why i am here. to ask as we move to end slavery that we look within our own lives and don't see

traffickers has horrible people out there. what about the 15-year-old boy who was recruited by his father to become a trafficker? he himself was a victim. or what about people in severe poverty who have no other opportunity? the only thing they can do is sell another human being. this is a complex issue. we have the roots of violence within us. i see that within myself and i root them out within myself. i ask you to do that in your own lives. how are we loving our children? how are we loving our partners? how are we loving the strangest on the street. equally as important as passing the -- act which we need to do. equally important having press conferences, reading stories, going on the news. it's how you treat everyone in your day-to-day life. thank you. (applause) (applause)

>> wow. thank you so much. that takes so much courage. to be that voice. i don't know. i know what it is to tell the story of survival. and the people who you can reach with that it's untold amounts of people. you would be surprised how many would be affected by what you have to say and i'm glad that you brought up boys. i think that they are not always thought of as victims. in trafficking or in many other things but they are. anyway, i just thank you all for coming. this was wonderful that you

were here. i think to be able -- oh, one more. come here. >> my name is marilyn -- president of the friends of the san francisco commission on the status of women. this was awesome. thank you for inviting me. what comes to mind is a collaboration, 20 agencies and all of you here taking time off on a wor day to honor our keynote speaker. the quote that i had, what margaret meade said, a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change

the world. you all are doing that. and a half of the friends of the san francisco commission on the status of women, we are the group -- your friends that will help raise money to continue your work, that is why i'm here. i also wanted to say that trafficking involves exploitation in many forms. i have seen in my own community, sometimes it comes in many forms. bondage. professional women and men are in deep debt bondage because they have to pay the traffickers of those who recruit them to their jobs. there was a philippine american, the first to serve in washington state legislature; among her many accomplish things as passage of the first -- washington with the first a donation to make human trafficking illegal,

and you are containing her work. she authored the joint legislative oversight committee on trade policy. human trafficking touches every corner of the globe, especially the united states, especially san francisco.it is the second largest and fastest-growing crime in the world. 9,000,000,000 to 30 billion annually. this is something we need to be more vigilant. we need to look beneath the surface, look around us. this action, human trafficking could be happening in our neighborhood, our workplace. be vigilant. also understand what this complex issue is about because this is about slavery, modern

slavery. this is about stealing the lives of young women and men. i applaud all of you for being here, and the young women who took the time to really create a phase of what human trafficking is. i love your quote. not be a bystander. be an outstander. (applause) i have an announcement. take the posters. to your workplace, to your home. the poster will be displayed at the department of the status of women. there are so many workshops and events during this month. please tell your friends and family. learn more about this complex issue. we have to and violence. thank you all. (applause)

>> good morning everyone i am closing the event. i will say that i want to thank everyone. i want to highlight the poster submissions presented here. please look at the fine detail, the energy and time that the young people committed to make sure we created of the awareness of human trafficking. i want to highlight that there is a calendar of events. if any of you would like to continue to be involved i encourage you to either yourself be involved or pass out the information. today there will be a human trafficking 101 session that we encourage you to attend so we understand this issue in hybrids at seven cisco. thank you to the chief of police, the chief of probation,

carmen chu, and we appreciate everyone being here including the district attorney's office for being part of this cause. thank you. (applause)