“Before going on the LA Anti-Human Trafficking trip, I had read a lot of different articles that discussed how every profession was addressing the issue of human trafficking. As I continually read these articles I was bothered by the lack of collaboration between these professionals and organizations. For example, one article that portrayed the perspective of a social worker might say that under-aged girls should never be arrested for prostitution because they are a victim and should not be treated as a criminal. Then another article from a police officer's perspective will argue how important it is to arrest these girls because at least they can hold them for a couple of hours and get service providers, social workers, and non-profit representatives a chance to come in and help the girls instead of them before they are released and return to their pimp. All these articles offered very different yet valuable perspectives towards the issues of human trafficking. But because of all these controversies around the issue, by far the most inspiring part of the LA trip was the LA task force meeting. This is a group of professionals that meet once a month to discuss success stories and concerns around the issue of Human Trafficking. This group consisted of LAPD, FBI, and ICE officers, along with lawyers, social workers, and non-profit organization representatives. The meeting is open to the public so we were fortunate to be in town and able to attend. Hearing all the different issues that I've read about laid out on the table and discussed was very encouraging. Seeing all these important people come together to truly discuss issues and find solutions to these problems, depicted a sense of collaboration that cannot be received from reading the articles. Reading about all the perspectives offered a lot of intellectual insight, but being able to witness it first hand and talk to people after the meeting was a priceless opportunity.”
Dalychia Saah; School of Social Work, Junior
IJM Justice Week Coordinator
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