In 2020 eight U.S. school districts received $4.3 million in federal grants to create human trafficking prevention programs. Oakland Unified receives $500,000 annually from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to provide prevention education for middle and high school students and staff. Community school managers, therapists, and other trained staff are placed at each middle and high school campus to respond to commercial sexual exploitation and labor trafficking. Amba Johnson, a former welfare worker for foster youth, manages OUSD's prevention and response grant. Federal law defines trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion for adults; for youth under 18 those elements need not be present if the act is a crime.
Human trafficking is a blanket term that covers all forms of exploitation, including labor trafficking and commercial sex trafficking. Each one brings an entirely different set of challenges, so it's important to be specific. All survivors have different preferences for how they'd like to be referred to. Some people want to be identified as victims or survivors. Others are OK with both. Some don't want to be identified as either.
The federal government's definition of human trafficking includes the use of force, fraud, or coercion. That's particularly relevant if you're talking to someone over 18. The thing about youth under 18 is that force, fraud, and coercion don't have to be present if the act is, by definition, a crime.
#human-trafficking #school-based-prevention #oakland-unified-school-district #commercial-sexual-exploitation
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