Human trafficking 'is happening here,' Simi audience learns

As a "survivor leader," Stacy Jewell knows what she's talking about when she tells anyone who will listen that sex trafficking is a very real problem.

Now 37, the woman was only 19 when she was abducted and forced into sex trafficking. She was held captive for almost two years.

“The most important thing I want people to know is that it’s real, it’s a real issue and I’m a real person that it happened to,” said Jewell, who now lives in Los Angeles. “I can share the real experience and the authenticity of what’s happening to our children every day.”

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Jewell told her story this week to a crowd of more than 400 during an event titled “I Will Not Be Sold,” at Santa Susana High School in Simi Valley. Presented by Soroptimist International of Simi Valley, the presentation took place on Jan. 11, National Stop Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

Jewell’s experience led to her founding the Whoisstolen Creative Arts Troupe and Media Group, which puts on a play called "7 Layers Captive."

“What’s really powerful for me is it did take me awhile to have the courage,” Jewell said. “So what I did with Whoisstolen is I teach what this courage looks like, how you can become empowered and how you can empower others. So now that’s what I do for a living.”

Jewell was among a panel of speakers that included Christan Perez, human trafficking program manager for Interface Children and Family Services in Ventura County.

“Yes, this is happening here,” said Perez, noting that Interface opened a shelter in October specifically for human trafficking victims.

“We’ve served 34 clients in our first year,” Perez said. “People don’t believe that it’s happening here in Ventura County, and the reality is we’ve helped — in partnership with law enforcement and medical providers — 34 victims out of the life. And we’re just the adult reflection.”

Human trafficking definitely exists in Ventura County — “but it’s everywhere; our county is not unique,” said Kyle Crocker, a detective with the Simi Valley Police Department who was also part of the panel.

“It’s important that we’re all here recognizing it,” Crocker said. “We’re working collectively to try to attack a problem that isn’t just Social Services' problem or law enforcement's problem. It’s everybody’s problem right now.”

Robert Clark, a former FBI agent and vice president of Not One More in Simi Valley, said it’s important for everyone to understand that human trafficking is not just a local problem.

The average age of victims is 11 and 12 years old, “and that is nationally,” he said. “And the impact of it internationally certainly plays back to right here in Simi Valley.”

He said investigations have revealed a trafficking circuit.

“So in other words, they’ll be in South Los Angeles, they’ll be in Long Beach, they’ll be in Orange County, out to San Bernardino County, off to Vegas, and then back up north to San Francisco and Oakland,” Clark said.

Constant movement like that makes it tough for law enforcement, he said.

He also told the audience that sex traffickers are recruiting middle-schoolers.

“Pimps are sitting outside of middle schools, and even high schools, literally recruiting girls to and from school,” he said.

Sandy Schmid, who chaired the event, said that raising awareness is one of the most important ways to help diminish human trafficking.

“I want people to just be aware of what’s going on around them — make their kids aware and educated about this problem,” said Schmid, a member of Soroptimists and the manager of the Second Story Thrifty Boutique in Simi Valley, which is run by volunteers and sends proceeds to fight trafficking. “I don’t want people to live in fear, but I want them to be aware. Don’t stick your head in the sand."

Another big part of prevention is education, said Shannon Sergey, of Simi Valley, the founder and CEO of Forever Found, a nonprofit that helps support the prevention, rescue and restoration of child trafficking victims.

“My goal is to encourage people that they can do something,” Sergey said. “It’s so much easier to just not look — or to look and then get distracted. I want to encourage people to allow their heart to understand what’s happening, and take the step of doing something to make a difference.”

Soroptimists are planning a second event March 8 when the Oxnard, Ventura, Fillmore, Camarillo and Conejo Valley clubs present “Stop Human Trafficking & Sexual Slavery” at the Museum of Ventura County in Ventura. It will include a community walk at 5:30 p.m., followed by a forum an hour later.

If you go

What: Stop Human Trafficking & Sexual Slavery

When: March 8. Registration opens at 5 p.m., community walk is at 5:30 p.m., forum is at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Museum of Ventura County, 100 E. Main St., Ventura

Information: Debbie Gohlke at 320-5215 or on the web at www.stoptraffickingventuracounty.org.