Children as young as 10 years old are participating in a new county-wide human trafficking prevention effort in San Diego. The San Diego Trafficking Prevention Collective is teaching 5th to 12th graders and their teachers what to look out for and how to help prevent child exploitation.
Bianca Morales-Egan, human trafficking prevention program manager for Project Concern International is helping lead the program.
"There were focus groups conducted at 20 schools around San Diego County. All 20 knew that there was recruitment happening on their campus and about 90 percent of them had confirmed cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children on their campus. So, it's an issue happening in schools," Morales-Egan said.
A 2015 study by University of San Diego found sex trafficking is the 2nd largest underground economy after drug trafficking in San Diego County. The underground sex economy represents an estimated $810 million in annual revenue and it’s teenagers in school who are being targeted by traffickers.
Morales-Egan joins Midday Edition Tuesday to talk about how the San Diego Trafficking Prevention Collective is getting their message of prevention to schools.
To get help, report a tip or learn more about how to stop human trafficking call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
