Marking three years of Los Angeles County’s fight to protect victims from the horrors of child sex trafficking, Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe today declared the month of January 2015 as “National Human Trafficking Month,” countywide.
“Over the past several years, we have made significant strides in our efforts to combat the sexual exploitation of children for money across our region,” said Supervisor Knabe. “I’m extremely proud of the progress we’ve made.
“Together with County departments, law enforcement, non-profit agencies, and the support of a bi-partisan group of state legislators, we have been able to support the true victims of this heinous crime and bring to justice those who buy and sell children for profit. We’ve come a long way—but there is still much more work to be done.
“In 2015, our priorities will be to more aggressively crack down on the demand side of the industry and to change the language surrounding sex trafficking by removing the word ‘prostitute’ and ‘child prostitute’ from our vocabulary. No child grows up dreaming of being manipulated emotionally and physically into a hellish life of exploitation. It is our responsibility to protect these victims, to wrap our arms around them and provide them with all the services they need to get on the road to recovery. I’m confident that as we continue building awareness of this issue, and expand our training of employees and law enforcement across the County, we can help these victims walk the path to a better life.”