Taking Trafficking Awareness by Storm

January was Human Trafficking Prevention Month. On January 29, 2025, Empower Yolo hosted a Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Event in West Sacramento. Soroptimist International of Woodland (SIW) was proud to be one of the sponsors, and Catherine Portman, Marina McCarthy, Betsy Taloff, and Silvia Guerrero, members of the Trafficking Awareness Committee, attended and tabled at the event. Other sponsors included Yolo County District Attorney, West Sacramento Police Department, Yolo County Supervisor, Oscar Villegas, Yolo County Office of Education, 3Strands Global, and Bayer. The City of West Sacramento donated the space for the event at the West Sacramento Community Center, and refreshments were provided by the Yolo County Office of Education (YCOE).

After refreshments, the program began with breakout sessions: one for attendees interested in learning more about the trafficking of children, and one for adults. The adult breakout session featured the guest speaker, Raphaella Fontenot, who is a survivor of human trafficking for sex. She escaped her trafficker, has turned her life around, is now a Victims of Crime Case Manager at Community Against Sexual Harm (CASH), and is providing a better life for herself and her daughter. Her story was compelling and difficult to hear, but ultimately, a story of hope for survivors.

Once the breakout groups came back together, the panelists were introduced, with each one speaking briefly about the work they do. Following that, there was a presentation entitled, “Human Trafficking 101” and a question and answer session ended the program. Panelists included representatives from Empower Yolo, Yolo County Child Welfare Services, Commercially Sexually Exploited Children Committee (CSEC), the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, West Sacramento Police Department, 3Strands Global, and CASH.

Tabling at the event were representatives from Empower Yolo, 3Strands Global, Yolo County CSEC, the D.A.’s Victim Services Program, the Yolo County Children’s Alliance, the Victims of Crime Resource Center, Communicare+OLE, Visión y Compromiso™, and Hopely®, a single-source app to find all available resources for victims.

The event was informative and successful, with approximately 30 to 40 people in attendance, exclusive of the speaker, panelists, and representatives at the tables.