- Video shows Union Avenue, local motels, human trafficking awareness events
- Faith Heath, a human trafficking advocate, will host the Safeguard Conference where parents will learn the signs of human trafficking to keep others from going through what she went through as a kid.
Union Avenue is a hot spot for human trafficking.
City officials with the Department of Human Services have referred to it as the blade, slicing through central Bakersfield, but experts say trafficking knows no boundaries.
Human trafficking advocates like Faith Heath with Helping Us, an organization dedicated to supporting survivors, says predators continue to target our population’s most vulnerable.
In 2021, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 17,200 reports of child sex trafficking across the U.S.
“It’s not just on Union Avenue or it’s not just in one central area," Heath clarified. "Human trafficking has no bias, no socioeconomic bias, no background bias. It can happen to anyone.”
She tells me raising awareness about human trafficking is a passion of hers because she knows the impacts personally.
Heath says her mother was trafficked as a child, adding because of this trauma, her mother spent the rest of her life as a prostitute.
“We would walk to the store, and she would jump in the car with a John and leave me there," Heath remembered. "As long as he gave her money to send me to the store, it was okay.”
Heath tells us her mom died at 28 years old, resulting in her adoption by family members who she says caused more abuse and neglect.
“It changed the trajectory of my life. I knew that I didn’t want to end up that way, so I tried so hard not to,” Heath said."
That’s what led her to host the Safeguard conference on January 25th to help prevent more cases like hers.
“It’s really hard when you work to try and help a child be safe and you try to undo the damage that’s been done,” Dr. Angela Look, the social service supervisor with Child Protective Services, said.
She emphasizes the need for parents to stay involved in their kid's lives as a way to prevent the long term trauma that can come from trafficking.
“We also on a wider scale need to help reduce demand," she explained. "If there was no demand to buy our kids for sex, then there would be no supply. Basic economics.”
In an effort to prevent that exploitation, Heath plans to show kids how to recognize the signs of trafficking and teach parents how to protect their children at the conference.
“I want our children to be protected. I want our parents to be made aware, and I want our community to be made aware,” Heath said.
The Department of Human Services has more events planned this month in recognition of human trafficking awareness month, and if you or someone you know could be a victim of human trafficking, contact the numbers below.
- Kern County Child Abuse Hotline: (661) 631-6011
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security: (866) DHS-2423
- National Human Trafficking Hotline: (888) 373-7888
- Text HELP to BeFree (233733)
- For all emergencies call 911
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