Fourth Annual Walk Raises Awareness of Sexual Exploitation

"A lot of people think [sexual exploitation] is not happening here. Maybe they've heard about it on a news special, a movie, or they think it only happens in [foreign places], but a lot of people would actually be shocked to hear that it's happening in San Bernardino county," said CASE coordinator, Anne-Michelle Ellis. On Saturday, Jan. 11, CASE (Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation) held its fourth annual awareness walk, one of the several events CASE is hosting in January - the official Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month. Prior to the awareness walk, on Jan. 4 Ellis spoke at Granite Creek Community Church in Claremont addressing the crucial awareness of human trafficking and started off the prevention month of January with inspiring words. Formed in 2009, the San Bernardino County Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation (CASE) was created as a means to effectively address the issue of the commercial sexual exploitation of children affecting the County and hundreds of other surrounding communities. It is a collaborative effort amongst child-serving departments of the County, service groups, organizations and community members. For four years, CASE has strived to draw attention to the crime of sexual exploitation and trafficking through events that engage the whole community and help in raising awareness. Thousands of American children are forced into slavery every year and, therefore, it is vital to raise awareness to prevent it, many CASE collaborators agreed. Approximately 800 people filled the lot on East Hospitality Lane last Saturday ready to start walking in support of Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month. The event consisted of an ethnically diverse crowd and attracted people from all ages, from young toddlers to adults. After starting off the event with a few words from CASE collaborators, the crowd prepared to march their way down streets as signs with various messages, like "Prostitution=Slavery," were passed out to the crowd. In an effort to more efficiently raise awareness throughout the community of San Bernardino, awareness walk supporters/participants were broken up into 10 groups, each group taking a different route and shouting different chants. Chants such as, "Human trafficking?!" No! No! No! Human trafficking?! Has to go!" and, "What do we want?! Freedom!" ringed all down the streets of San Bernardino. "Our hope is that as people are passing by on this Saturday, going about their day, and seeing all these people walking down the streets and holding signs of human trafficking they become inspired to find out more about the issue," Ellis said. The CASE Awareness Walk would not have been possible without the collaboration of many organizations and project partners including: County of San Bernardino, Dpmt. of Behavioral Health, Children & Family Services, Children's Network, District Attorney, County Schools, Public Defender, Public Health, Probation, and Sherrif. Present at the CASE Awareness Walk were also representatives from several organizations including: Forgotten Children, Inc., Mary Magdalene Project, Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), Million Kids, Camp Good Grief, The African American Mental Health Coalition (AAMHC), Family Assistance Program, Crittenton, David and Margaret Foster Care, and Open Hope. Everyone is invited to participate in the Jan. 26 Walk Against Human Trafficking at the Shoppes at Chino Hills and the Southwest Conference Against Trafficking Jan. 17 through 19 at the Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center in Pomona. A monthly CASE Outreach & Education Meeting is also held the second Tuesday of each month at 2 p.m. at the Carousel Mall in San Bernardino. For more information on how to get involved, please contact CASE Coordinator Anne-Michelle Ellis at 909-383-9677 or email her at anne-michelle.ellis@hss.sbcounty.gov.