Fighting Human Trafficking

By Kamala D. Harris

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has made the fight against human trafficking a priority for California's top law enforcement agency.

Attorney General Harris has dedicated law enforcement resources to investigate and prosecute human traffickers. Last year, the Attorney General's office prosecuted defendants in a human trafficking ring in which women from Mexico were used as prostitutes in five California cities, and successfully dismantled a Northern California sex trafficking operation by arresting four individuals accused of pimping young women in a network of brothels.

In 2012, Attorney General Harris convened an anti-trafficking work group to assess human trafficking in our state and to issue a report entitled, "The State of Human Trafficking in California". Over 100 representatives from local law enforcement, victim services providers, non-governmental organizations, technology companies and academic institutions contributed to the report. The report evaluates the current state of human trafficking in California and presents innovative strategies to investigate and prosecute traffickers and assist victims.

Attorney General Harris has also harnessed the power of technology to combat the heinous crime of human trafficking, with an innovative program with Yahoo! and Polaris Project to direct users to the national human trafficking hotline whenever certain terms related to human trafficking are searched through Yahoo!. The goal of the initiative is to identify more victims of human trafficking by connecting survivors and community members to resources and support.

Attorney General Harris has also sponsored legislation to seize assets of human traffickers and use those resources to assist victims.