WASHINGTON, DC (March 3, 2022) – The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), along with 13 Los Angeles-based organizations, collectively worked together to help victims of human trafficking and prostitution, and to confront the demand for sex around the Super Bowl.
For more than five months, these 14 partners, including Inner City Visions (ICV) (Gang and Street Outreach, Case Management, Violence Prevention); Forgotten Children, Inc. (FCI) (Housing, Outreach, Case Management); Restoration Diversion Services (RDS) (Outreach/Case Management); Journey Out (Outreach/Case Management); Treasures (Strip Club Outreach, Survivor led Groups); Cherished LA (Housing/Outreach); ZOE (CSEC First Responder); Saving Innocence (CSEC First Responder); Center of Hope; I-5 Network; After Hours Ministry; Casa de Familia; Qualified; and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), strategized, planned, and prepared for what would be the largest sporting event in Los Angeles history, Super Bowl LVI.
Together, these groups recruited over 100 volunteers to provide resources, join outreach efforts, answer a 24-hour trafficking hotline, pack over 1,500 outreach kits, and provide crucial training to law enforcement and local business leaders about how to identify victims of human trafficking. Also, 14 outreaches to prostituted women were conducted on the streets, near strip clubs and motels. More than 1,000 women were reached and provided with services, supplies, and hotline information.
“Major sporting events like the Super Bowl attract thousands of visitors, and where there are crowds, there’s a demand for commercial sex. These courageous leaders and volunteers partnered with local law enforcement agencies for a week-long operation around the Super Bowl to reach out to and support women who were being prostituted and to help identify victims of human trafficking,” said Dr. Stephany Powell, director of law enforcement training and survivor services for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, and a former Los Angeles Police Department vice sergeant.
“The commitment displayed during this operation by our local partners was amazing. To combat human trafficking, we need all hands-on deck. The work is not over, and we are dedicated now more than ever to ensure victims and survivors receive the resources and care necessary to reclaim their lives and heal from the impact of their trauma,” said Tera Hilliard, CEO, Forgotten Children, Inc.
“After taking some of the training our groups provided to identify victims of human trafficking, one Motel 6 assistant manager said the motel was ready and was proud to partner with our organizations,” Hilliard added.
The group’s efforts were a part of the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force’s Operation Reclaim and Rebuild that led to 65 adult and 7 minor victims being recovered; 182 males being arrested for the charge of Solicitation; and 30 suspected traffickers and exploiters being arrested.
