U.S. Representative Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) today hosted a roundtable on human trafficking with Stanislaus County District 1 Supervisor Kristin Olsen. Uber Technologies Inc., along with community leaders, law enforcement and local advocacy groups joined the roundtable to share best practices in fighting this epidemic in the Central Valley. The event, held at the Modesto Police Department, was moved from the conference room to the presentation room to accommodate more attendees.
“Even one person affected by human trafficking is too many,” said Rep. Denham. “As community leaders, it is our responsibility to find solutions and deliver results.”
More human traffickers are caught in California than any other state, and to make matters worse, 40 percent of trafficked victims are between the ages of 12-17, while 60 percent are between 18 and 25, with many in this demographic having been trafficked at a younger age.
"We're proud to partner with Congressman Denham, community groups, and law enforcement to help raise awareness in the communities we serve on human trafficking warning signs and reporting. The conversation today was productive and we look forward to working together to drive awareness and help combat this terrible crime,” said Dave Barmore, public policy manager at Uber.
“There are many partners in the 10th District collaborating to confront human trafficking. This roundtable with Uber started the engine to bring big business into that fold,” said Debbie Johnson, CEO and Founder of local nonprofit Without Permission. “Uber drivers looking for the ‘red flags’ of sex trafficking in our community could prove to be a major deterrent to trafficking in our hometown.”
Rep. Denham recently supported two bills that came out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, H.R. 3813, the Combating Human Trafficking in Commercial Vehicles Act, and H.R. 3814, the No Human Trafficking on Our Roads Act, both of which have now been made law. Additionally, H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act of 2017, was signed into law to increase penalties and liability for online platforms that may be used in human trafficking. These overwhelmingly bipartisan bills were designed to help keep the perpetrators of human trafficking at bay and limit their access to commercial vehicles and online tools commonly used in trafficking.
