College students track sex trafficking in San Francisco

Published: 2008-01-10

SAN FRANCISCO (CNS) -- Students and campus ministry officials at Jesuit-run University of San Francisco are mapping sites where sex trafficking goes on in an effort to help humanitarian organizations combat what they term a blight of modern-day slavery in the city. The students suspect that at least 90 sex emporiums operate in San Francisco with women held against their will. Because of the difficulty in gathering witness testimony and in tracking the life stories of the victims back to their home countries, the students fear traffickers often escape prosecution. But they believe the evidence they are collecting will raise public awareness and point aid organizations to places where victims are being kept against their will. The students described the effort at a recent session of the Theology on Tap discussion series for young adult Catholics, sponsored by the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The meeting was held at a popular bar in the city's financial district. "A lot of the places we're looking at are a few blocks from here," student Mellice Hackett said.

Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .