Human trafficking is the fastest growing crime in America. 300,000 American girls are at risk, and no one knows how many boys. More than 90% of the victims are never rescued, and the average age of these modern day sex slaves is 13 years old. Human trafficking is a $32 billion dollar a year business and California is the #1 state in the U.S. for trafficking cases.
Veronica Stephens is on a crusade to stop human trafficking, and she formed the Action Force Network to educate people, rescue victims, and prevent this growing tragedy. She’s a resident of Rancho Santa Margarita, but she travels widely, in and out of state, with her mission. Her main message is –
“We won’t arrest it away. We won’t legislate it away. We have to stop it before it happens.”
Among her many activities, Stephens conducts workshops for schools, church groups, and community organizations. For students they provide awareness, educating youth on the potential dangers that accompany online friendships, other risky behaviors and detail how the predators profile their victims. They equip students with safe and healthy relationship practices and empower them with ways they can better protect themselves.
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The workshop I went to was intended for parents. It was put on by Soroptimists International of Saddleback Valley. The workshop provided signs and symptoms that your child is at risk, and strategies for how to deal with the problem before it becomes a reality.
I've asked Ms. Stephens to come up with a plan for Lake Forest that involves the schools, the parent groups, churches, organizations, the Sheriff's office, and the City in a multi-pronged approach so that we can protect our children to the utmost. Meanwhile, if your church, school group, or organization is interested in working directly with the Action Force Network (Click Here) you can contact them though their website or call 949 584 2040.
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.
Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a mini town meeting every month. The next meeting will be on Sept 9 at 2 pm at the El Toro Public Library.
