Marchers will protest human trafficking Saturday | UTSanDiego.com

Marchers will protest human trafficking Saturday | UTSanDiego.com:

'via Blog this'Marchers will take to the streets of San Diego on Saturday in protest and awareness of human trafficking with the aim to learn more and do more, according to organizers with the Radical Feminists of San Diego.

The event is planned in solidarity with the 2012 Sexual Assault Awareness Month of April. It will begin at noon at 30th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, a march will go from there to the bust stop at the intersection of El Cajon Boulevard and the 15 freeway on ramp where advocates will share their work on behalf of trafficked victims.

Human trafficking is a form of slavery and includes anyone who is controlled and exploited for profit. Trafficking victims include those forced to perform labor, sex, and other services. Experts estimate there could be as many as 12 to 27 million people enslaved globally against their will.

“There are so many ways that women and other genders can be exploited and that is important to bring to light,” said Cathy Mendonca, lead event organizer for Radical Feminists.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder spoke last month during the president's annual Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and said that in the past year the U.S. charged a record number of people with the offense.

"Over the last three years we have achieved significant increases in human trafficking prosecutions, including the rise of more than 30 percent in the number of forced labor and adult sex trafficking prosecutions," he said.

In San Diego, considered a hot spot for child prostitution and a gateway for the trafficking of immigrnants, Mendonca said more needs to be done to stop it from happening at all.

“It has to be a combination approach, more funding for these services, but it’s also keeping in mind the larger picture that nobody should be enslaved and everyone should be able to be safe,” Mendonca said.

Speakers at the event include:

• Af3rm San Diego, "Purple Rose Campaign, Sex trafficking on a Transnational Level"
• Estela de Los Rios, Executive Director for the Center for Social Advocacy
• Dilkhwaz Ahmed, M.S, Executive Director for License to Freedom, "Forced Marriage and Torture in the Middle Eastern Culture "
• Enrique Morones, Founder of Border Angels, "Immigration and Trafficking"
• Anne Hoilberg, Women’s Museum of California, “Military’s involvement in sex trafficking abroad”
• Ruth “Tikki” Inacay, USD Rainbow Educator, “Trafficking among LGBTQ Youth”
• Rachel Irby, Executive Director and co-founder of Unchained in Arizona, "The grooming of victims by PIMPS into the industry and its psychological effects and trauma"
• Phil Cendella, National Association of Human Trafficking Victim Advocates, "Services, Shelter and Support for survivors and how San Diego should step up"

Radical Feminists of San Diego grew out of the Occupy San Diego movement to focus on women’s issues. This is its second mobilization, the first was a Roe v. Wade anniversary march in January.

For more information check out the group’s Facebook page and video on youtube.