“Know thyself; know thy enemy.” Sun Tzu from The Art of War.
In the fight against Human Trafficking, what Pope Francis calls an open wound on humanity, it would be sad indeed if all of our plans, all of our methods, were fashioned on assumptions that proved to be false or incomplete. Our good intentions notwithstanding, it would be like boxing shadows. How will we know if we are making progress? How will we know if the problem is growing larger or shrinking? How will we know if services are being delivered well or whether prevention efforts are being effective? The answer is, we can’t afford to guess – not when 12 year-old girls are being sold.
Know thy enemy: the methods and realities of trafficking, and the real-time situation on the ground. Data. Know thyself: The capacities and specialties of our anti human trafficking agencies and law enforcement.
In 2019, through the impetus of the EOC and the Mayor’s Office, we designed and coordinated an historic attempt at collecting data on all aspects of human trafficking in the valley. This project documents the number of victims and the services delivered to them, children vulnerable to being trafficked, prevention efforts, and data from law enforcement on the demand side. We coordinated a process by which the data instrument itself was formed with the collective wisdom and guidance of 26 separate anti-human trafficking agencies from Merced to Bakersfield. These agencies are using the data to improve their services.
The second annual report was delivered this month by Dr. Randy White at the Summit on Human Trafficking being sponsored by The EOC’s Central Valley Against Human Trafficking Project.
Jesus sides with those who are being used, those seen as objects, those who are invisible and suffering, and those in need of justice – in other words, the sinned against.
We have received more than 540 reports of all types, identifying 378 unique victims in the valley. It is our habit and honor to pray for each one individually, as well as each agency doing the reporting. May God help us to know the enemy, to know ourselves, and win the fight.
To read the full report click here: HT2020AnnualReptPDF
