By Joe Goldeen, Record Staff Writer, Updated Jan 11, 2018 at 4:52 PM
Read original story HERE
STOCKTON — Awareness is the enemy of human trafficking. And San Joaquin County is at the crossroads of that trade.
So knowing what human trafficking is becomes important for everyone in the community. It is the modern-day form of slavery, where people profit from the control and exploitation of others, according to Stockton’s Women’s Center Youth and Family Services, one of the groups that help victims get their lives back.
And it is up to everyone in the community to “End It,” the phrase adopted by the San Joaquin County Human Trafficking Task Force, which held its second annual summit Thursday at the County Office of Education, attended by more than 100 front-line workers and supporters of the task force’s efforts.
Sex traffickers use violence, threats, lies, debt bondage and other forms of coercion to force women, men and children to engage in commercial sex acts against their will. But first they have to lure them in — sometimes, for young children, with candy and toys; for teens, with cellphones and cash — but often, for just about everyone, with signs of affection, caring and showing concern for their needs. Someone who listens to their problems and understands how they can help.
Victims are manipulated, deceived and violated by their traffickers, trapping them in horrific situations every day in Stockton and other communities. All trafficking victims share one essential experience — the loss of freedom.
That’s how it was for Stockton-born Denise Delgado Estrada back when she was 13 in 1984. Back when no one was using the term “victim of human trafficking.” Instead, Estrada said bluntly, “Back then, I was referred to as a prostitute.”
Estrada, who today works at San Joaquin General Hospital, shared her story of victimization during an emotional presentation at the summit, describing herself as a regular kid who was active at Daniel Webster Middle School, playing on the basketball team, where she averaged 12 points a game and worked on the yearbook staff.
But all was not great at home. Her parents divorced when she was 7; her father had custody but she lived at times with a sister, her grandma and “with mom sometimes when I felt like being with my mom.”
A male relative who was the same age as Estrada’s mother observed her vulnerabilities. “He brought me in by telling me this, and that nobody cares about me.” Estrada was a virgin at that point and had every intention of remaining so until she got married, a value instilled in her by her grandmother.
The fear started when the relative “decided that he was going to take advantage of me. He violated me and made me feel that it was something that I deserved. It might have not felt good or been OK or dreamed of, but it was OK ‘because I care about you enough,’ ” she said, describing the man’s warped reality.
“I was raped. I was sodomized. I was electrocuted. I was threatened, and I was taken from my home,” Estrada said.
When she got back to her sister’s apartment, instead of understanding, she was met with punishment and grounding. When she was alone and the relative returned, she recognized his knock on the door and tried to hide. But he acknowledged her anger at her family, so she eventually opened the door.
“It all started from there,” Estrada said. For six weekends on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, Estrada’s relative made her have sex with farm workers living in labor camps west of Stockton.
“I don’t know how much I was sold for. I was told not to kiss anybody on the mouth,” she said, recalling that her relative said she would be safe because he would be just outside every single door.
She didn’t eat or drink anything, not even water, for the whole weekend.
“It was power,” Estrada says now.
Battered, bruised and hurting from her weekends at the labor camps, Estrada would return to school on Mondays. “There were days I couldn’t walk. If a teacher had approached me to ask why I couldn’t get up from my chair, I think I would have said something.” But that never happened because most people just weren’t aware of the signs of human trafficking.
Suzanne Schultz, family crimes coordinator for the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office and project director for the Family Justice Center, shared some of the warning signs with summit participants during her keynote address.
Victims of human trafficking may start by dating someone significantly older, someone who is abusive and controlling. They may live in a home with multiple other people. Victims often have “absolutely nothing except the clothes on their backs and a GoPhone.” Or they may have more than one cellphone.
A victim may suffer recurring sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, and conduct regular pregnancy tests. They never have cash and they disappear for days or weeks at a time without communicating with their families. Their wardrobe may suddenly change.
They may show signs of exhaustion, fear, anxiety and/or depression, and even weight loss. And they could suffer from vitamin D deficiency because they spend so much time indoors and traveling.
More explicit signs include tattoos and branding, including prices for sexual services on the inside of the mouth, the buttocks, the stomach and the inner thigh.
“Tattooing in visible areas are used to show ownership of a victim and for psychological control,” Schultz said. Sometimes the trafficker will put their name or the name of their gang on the victim. “Our victims are losing their identities as human beings,” she said.
The county task force is doing its part to make as many people as possible aware, reaching out to schools, businesses, faith communities, banks, shopping malls where first encounters often occur, motels and hotels.
- Anyone in need of free and confidential services may contact the San Joaquin County 24-Hour Human Trafficking Hotline at (209) 948-1911 or the National Human Trafficking Hotline at (888) 373-7888.
- Organizations that can help in San Joaquin County include the Women’s Center-YFS at (209) 941-2611; Child Protective Services at (209) 468-1330; Without Permission Crisis Navigator at (209) 277-7758; and the DA’s Victim Witness Program at (209) 468-2500.