Human Trafficking: Count Of Victims Underscores S.f.’s Challenges

San Francisco’s first effort to document the scope of human trafficking in the city identified nearly 300 known or suspected victims in the second half of 2014 alone and highlighted the challenge of addressing a crime in which women, men and often children are exploited in society’s shadows. Yet the count, released Monday, offers city officials a starting point and a numerical baseline as they grapple with what they call a complicated and entrenched problem — one that features victims who often don’t understand they’re being victimized, and a system that is frequently unable to prosecute the suspected traffickers. The 291 individuals identified — mostly juveniles and young adults — had some kind of contact with the city or a community social service provider, according to Mayor Ed Lee’s Task Force on Anti-Human Trafficking, which he started in 2013. “We know there is a lot of human trafficking going on that is invisible,” said Emily Murase, executive director of the San Francisco Department on the Status of Women, which oversees the task force. [...] it could get worse, city officials fear, with the Super Bowl coming to the region in February — an event that some say increases demand and supply for sex trafficking. The mayor recently funded evening and weekend hours for outreach workers to respond to the immediate needs of sexually exploited children identified by the city. [...] the city’s Family and Children Services department is piloting a screening tool to assess those at risk of exploitation. During the last six months of 2014, the Police Department’s Special Victims Unit arrested four trafficking suspects, according to the report. [...] the city’s adult probation department said it had no trafficking convicts under supervision during the time period that was studied. The report includes recommendations, including the systematic screening of at-risk populations, such as foster children; the use of a standard definition of human trafficking; and increased efforts to identify and address labor trafficking. “Human traffickers recruit, transport, harbor, obtain, and exploit victims — using force, threats, lies, or other psychological coercion,” according to the 48-page report. Traffickers offer potential victims false promises, such as a high-paying job, educational opportunity, or marriage. The mayor said human trafficking is “a global issue, and at the local level we have the opportunity and the responsibility to take action.”