Students for Survivors Club raises awareness of human trafficking in Santa Barbara County

High school students are raising awareness about human trafficking in Santa Barbara County, a place where minors as young as 12 are being victimized.

California has the highest number of human trafficking cases in the United States, according to the FBI, and Santa Barbara County serves as a hotspot for trade-offs due to its location between the two major cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

According to the Santa Barbara County Prosecutor’s Office, there have been more than 229 sex trafficking survivors in the county as of 2017, 30 percent of whom are under the age of 18.

“A lot of people who are trafficked don’t even realize they’re being trafficked,” said Elana Rowan, an 11th grader who, along with her friend Chase Thompson, founded the Students for Survivors club at San Marcos High School.

“They give up their safety to get love and attention from people, not knowing that they are putting themselves in dangerous, violent situations,” Rowan explained.

Over the summer, Rowan and Thompson were two of six interns at the county Strategic alliance to fight exploitation (SAFE), a group of regional partners working under the province Human Trafficking Task Force to help combat sex and labor trafficking.

SAFE operates a fund allocated to organizations working to prevent human trafficking, serve at-risk populations and protect survivors – all in the name of achieving the province’s goals. three-year Strategic Plan to put an end to the buying and selling of people in Santa Barbara.

SAFE is the “gas in the tank” to tackle the exploitation of children in particular, said Kayla Petersen. Petersen is a Leadership Integrator at Kingdom Causes Inc. (KCI), which was contracted by the province’s Public Prosecution Service to implement the plan.

Peterson and Jeff Shaffer, KCI Regional Catalyst in Santa Barbara, passionately believed that high school students needed to be involved in SAFE to inspire them to take up this work later in life.

Through their new club, these students want to educate others about human trafficking and create communities of love and connection, providing space for students who feel isolated and alone – a demographic group that is particularly vulnerable to human trafficking.

“We have people in the county who have been doing this work for a long time, and it’s passionate to see young people getting more involved,” Peterson said.

Rowan said they had more than 100 signatures to sign up for their club, and during their first two meetings, with the help of faculty advisor Michael Thrasher, they educated their members about human trafficking and what SAFE does through engaging activities.

“It’s important to bring it to the attention of younger people, especially because children our age and not much younger than us are being victimized,” Rowan said.

Eventually, they want to expand to other middle schools and high schools in the county. But for now, they’re building on their current momentum. Last Sunday, the students took part in a fundraising event for SAFE, where they had their own booth to talk about their club and meet potential speakers. Later this year, Fox Wine Co. will host. a fundraising event at their winery in the Funk Zone, where the students have been offered to set up a booth.

For more information about SAFE and donating, visit safesbc.org.