As part of its campaign to raise awareness about human trafficking in Orange County, OCTA’s Be the One (BT1) website features compelling stories from victims.
Shari, one of 10 children from a poor family in Taiwan, was only five when her parents sold her to a wealthy family to become their maid. Shari grew up as their slave, overworked and mistreated, denied an education and a childhood.
Jackie and her young child had recently immigrated to the U.S. when she answered what sounded like a promising advertisement for a massage therapist. The interview was a trap, and Jackie became a prostitute for a sex trafficker and pimp who threatened to use her personal information to find her family and kill them.
Fortunately, both women were rescued and are now recovering with the help of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force.
OCTA’s BT1 public awareness campaign alerts bus riders to the problem of sex and labor trafficking and encourages them to be the one to take action by calling a national hotline or alerting a coach operator. OCTA has trained more than 1,100 coach operators on how to spot and get help for victims.
Many residents may find it hard to believe that this form of modern-day slavery exists in Orange County. However, sex and labor trafficking is found throughout the county from the wealthiest to the poorest neighborhoods.
The BT1 campaign is funded under the Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP), one of seven grant programs that constitute the United States Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Infrastructure Protection Program.