Vanguard to host human trafficking conference

Stamping out human trafficking and caring for victims of the increasingly common crime will be the subject of the Ensure Justice Conference on Friday and Saturday at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa.

The annual conference is open to the public. Ticket prices range from $50 for students to $149 for general admission.

According to the U.S. State Department, up to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year. More than 70% are female and half are children. California alone harbors three of the FBI’s 13 highest child sex trafficking areas in the nation: Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco.

The conference will cover what are considered best practices, with top law enforcement, university administrators and health providers leading workshops on care for victims of trauma, gangs and ways to partner with law enforcement to curb the spread of human trafficking. Expert panels will also delve into the role schools can play in the prevention of child trafficking.

“School-based professionals are on the front lines, and they can help protect youth from human trafficking when they know what warning signs to look for,” said Stacy Deeble-Reynolds, prevention coordinator for the Orange County Department of Education and speaker at this year’s conference.

Also scheduled to speak is Kirsten Foot, professor at the University of Washington and author of “Collaborating Against Human Trafficking: Cross-Sector Challenges and Practices,” which will be published later this year.

“A few years ago not many people even knew about human trafficking. Now there are more than a thousand organizations undertaking anti-trafficking work,” said Sandra Morgan, director of Vanguard University’s Global Center for Women and Justice, the event organizer.

Registration is required. Information is available at https://www.vanguard.edu/gcwj/ensurejustice.