The Santa Barbara County Human Trafficking Task Force, in partnership with the Strategic Alliance to Fight Exploitation (SAFE), hosted its inaugural “No One Bought or Sold” event on Thursday at a private Montecito estate.

The alliance, united with the expertise of Kingdom Causes Inc., came together to fuel the anti-trafficking movement in Santa Barbara County through a donor-advised fund that specifically supports a three-year strategic plan, estimated to cost $1 million.

The alliance is comprised of partners from a variety of sectors, including philanthropy, government, business, nonprofit and faith communities, working together to address sex and labor trafficking in the county.
 
During the past five years, nearly 230 people have been identified as survivors of human trafficking in Santa Barbara County, but that number is likely underrepresented as many victims don’t self-identify and often don’t present through law enforcement, making tracking difficult.

The majority of victims are female, ages 12 to 14, but no one is exempt.
 
“I couldn’t believe that we had an issue here in Santa Barbara,” said Megan Riker-Rheinschild, who founded the Santa Barbara County Human Trafficking Task Force in 2013 as director of the District Attorney’s Office Victim/Witness Assistance Program, to address a community-wide outcry calling attention to the issue. “I have never seen an issue strike a chord with the community in the way that human trafficking has.”

“I think it’s so difficult to wrap our brains around the fact that human trafficking and child sex trafficking is happening in our backyard,” said Kielle Campbell Lindsey, president of The Lindsey Foundation and chair of the event. “Children are being sold for sex in our communities. It is real, and Santa Barbara is a hub.”

The purpose of the event, and the newly formed SAFE Santa Barbara, is to raise funds to implement a strategic plan that focuses on three critical areas: addressing sex trafficking through new and improved identification tools, first responder training, robust outreach and engagement, and accessible, flexible funds to support survivors; expansion of prevention and intervention efforts in schools through training and support; and development of a network and strategy to address labor trafficking through a research and assessment process.

Adrianne was experiencing homelessness when she was first trafficked for labor, then she was exploited for sex.
 
“My family home was less than three miles away from some of my worst experiences,” she shared, telling a bit of her story as a homeless young woman living in Lompoc. “I grew up on the Central Coast, like many families, playing soccer as a child and volunteering in my community. The day I became homeless is the day that my experience with trafficking began — trading my time, my freedom and my body for showers and shelter.”

Now two years out of homelessness, Adrianne said she is learning “how to be a full human again.” She shares her story as a local advocate and core member of the team.

“My hope,” Adrianne said, “is to be the woman who holds out her hand to another woman in my community and says, ‘I understand. Let me show you the way.’”

SAFE Santa Barbara follows the innovative and proven model co-founded by Heather Tuininga in Washington state. The model now has been replicated in other communities across the country, and the Santa Barbara chapter marks the sixth in the nation and the first in California.

In fact, California has the highest incidence of trafficking in the country, and human trafficking is a multibillion-dollar industry. Each person trafficked is worth about $150,000 per year to their predator, according to Lindsey.

“Being properly resourced around an issue that is as overwhelming and sometimes amorphous as this is critical,” Rheinschild said. “Having the administrative support that we often lack in government to follow the line and keep efforts moving forward is so important.”

SAFE operates a fund that receives tax-deductible donations, allocating those funds to qualified, vetted organizations doing the work on the frontlines to address the critical issues outlined in the strategic plan.

The organizations receiving resources are part of the larger movement to prevent human trafficking, assist at-risk populations and protect survivors.
 
To learn more or to make a donation, visit safesbc.org.