Trafficking in America Task Force

Thank you, Ruchira Gupta, and the entire Apne Aap team, for creating this important space for survivor leadership and systems accountability. Those with lived experience carry critical insight into how exploitation operates, where institutions fail, and what true prevention and justice require. I’m honored to stand alongside organizations committed to ensuring survivor voices help shape the solutions.

Survivor leadership must be at the center of anti-trafficking work.

On our "From Harm to Justice" panel this month, Jerome Elam reminded us that those with lived experience hold critical knowledge on how systems of exploitation operate—and how they must change.

This news matters.

In California, Operation Reclaim and Rebuild resulted in 600+ arrests and 170 victims rescued, including children. Every one of those rescues represents a life interrupted from exploitation—and a chance to heal.

As a child s*x trafficking survivor, survivor of image-based abuse, Marine Corps veteran, and CEO of Trafficking in America Task Force, I know how rare—and how critical—it is to be seen, believed, and protected.

Rescue is not the end of the story. Survivors need long-term care, safety, and justice. And our communities must stay engaged until trafficking is no longer tolerated, ignored, or normalized.

Let’s keep pushing—for every child still trapped, and every survivor still waiting to be heard.

CA human trafficking crackdown leads to 600 arrests and 170 victims rescued, including children A week-long statewide crackdown on human trafficking resulted in more than 600 arrests and the rescue of 170 people, including children as young as 13.