By Magaly Muñoz, Post Staff

On Wednesday evening, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao launched her Human Trafficking Advisory Council. Collaborating with several agencies, the council aims to devise strategies to prevent and investigate human trafficking crimes, as well as assist victims in healing from these crimes.

Thao was joined by City Council President Niki Fortunato Bas, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, the Oakland Police Department, the Oakland Department of Violence Prevention, the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, and a coalition of survivor advocate groups and community organizations.

“It is our job as a whole community, as neighbors, as stewards of humanity to ensure that we are protecting our boys and girls, men and women, to ensure that they do not have to face a life of being trafficked,” Thao said.

Earlier this month, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price unveiled six new billboards at Oakland International Airport that are part of her campaign against human trafficking in the Bay Area.

The billboards will feature QR codes and phone numbers, offering victims and survivors access to helplines and resources. The information displayed on these billboards will be available in three languages.

Thao said they are looking into the option of putting up additional billboards around the city but will leave it up to the Council to find the best solutions to raising awareness about sex trafficking.

Alameda County is identified as the third-largest hub for sex trafficking in the country, with 4,700 youth victims.

“It [human trafficking] is a billion-dollar industry, and our efforts have to step up to that,” Price said during her press conference.

The council identified the streets and neighborhoods between International Boulevard, East 14^th Street, and East 15^th Street, also known as “the Blade,” as the most active zones for trafficking in Oakland.

Oakland Police Department, also a part of the advisory council, shared that in partnership with the FBI, they completed 26 critical investigations where 14 minors were rescued, 27 individuals were arrested for solicitation, and 14 individuals suspected of human trafficking were arrested.

When asked how she will ensure that the community doesn’t see an increase in police presence in the streets as a negative, Thao said there are two sides to the issue.

First, the role of police partnerships is to look out for pimps and perpetrators of sex trafficking and to enforce the relevant laws. Second, victims need resources like housing, jobs, and food. This is where community organizations come into play.

Venus Morris from Survivors Healing Advising and Dedicated to Empowerment (SHADE) shared that the isolation brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic made it easier to exploit people because of idle time that perpetrators’ had coupled with the lack of resources accessible to survivors and victims.

She said her work with SHADE goes towards diffusing the epidemic of sex trafficking and helping kids feel like selling their bodies and walking the streets is not the only option to getting some stability in their lives.

“Awareness isn’t a campaign. It’s an action,” Morris said.

The mayor stated that the council will regularly convene to discuss strategies concerning resources for victims, proper intervention and enforcement of these crimes, and examine the underlying issues that make victims vulnerable.

Magaly Muñoz

A graduate of Sacramento State University, Magaly Muñoz’s journalism experience includes working for the State Hornet, the university’s student-run newspaper and conducting research and producing projects for “All Things Considered” at National Public Radio. She also was a community reporter for El Timpano, serving Latino and Mayan communities, and contributed to the Sacramento Observer, the area’s African American newspaper.

Muñoz is one of 40 early career journalists who are part of the California Local News Fellowship program, a state-funded initiative designed to strengthen local news reporting in California, with a focus on underserved communities.

The fellowship program places journalism fellows throughout the state in two-year, full-time reporting positions.

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