Spearheading Anti-Human Trafficking Efforts in California

Editor's Note: January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

On Red Bucket Day, Canyon Hills Assembly of God women's ministries set up three pop-up tents at strategic locations across the Bakersfield, California, area and enlist volunteers to stand on some of the city’s busiest street corners with red buckets to collect donations for human trafficking prevention. They also hold up stop signs that read, “Stop Human Trafficking.” This is just one of several events sponsored by the church each year in an effort to end the heinous practice. 

In 2012, the women’s ministries department of the AG Southern California (SoCal) Network held their annual fundraiser with the goal of raising money for victims of human trafficking, both internationally and domestically. Although the fundraiser had been an annual event, that particular year sparked a movement that helped bring one of the most horrific humanitarian issues to the forefront of thousands of people across the state.

Cynthia Giumarra, director of Canyon Hills women’s ministries, recalls that after the funds were raised, which far surpassed the amount expected to come in, the group of AG women wanted to keep making strides in raising awareness of human trafficking and providing resources for those fighting the issue on the front lines.

The women of Canyon Hills started an initiative with the purpose of seeing victims of human trafficking set free. This ministry hosts several human trafficking awareness and fundraising events throughout the year.

Giumarra says Red Bucket Day has become familiar and anticipated, with strategic media blitzes leading up to the annual fundraiser and radio stations doing live broadcasts from Red Bucket sites on the day of the event.

“We have done the event every year except for the year we were shut down for COVID,” says Giumarra. “People know us.”

In the weeks before, Giumarra and her team train volunteers, hold press conferences, and unveil city busses with banners that display the national human trafficking hotline number.

Another event that is sponsored by Canyon Hills is the Red and White Gala. The night features leaders speaking on “the current state of anti-human trafficking efforts in our state and country,” according to Carrie Johnson, Compassion director for the SoCal Network.

“We are incredibly proud of the initiative and the work that Canyon Hills is doing to be part of human trafficking awareness” says Rich Guerra, SoCal Network superintendent.

Human trafficking, which has grown into a $150 billion-a-year industry, is defined by California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office as “modern-day slavery,” and “a crime that involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts.”

Yet even with years of awareness efforts, California ranks among the top states for human trafficking hotline calls, a statistic Shannon Grove, California State Senator of the 12th District, partly attributes to lenient state laws regarding the issue.

“The penalty of the crime for this [wasn’t] severe enough to be a deterrent,” she says.

Grove has worked tirelessly alongside organizations such as the Canyon Hills women’s ministries department and CityServe to shed light on the topic of human trafficking and take engaging in solicitation or sexual misconduct with a minor from a misdemeanor to a felony.

One such bill that was introduced by Grove and a large bipartisan coalition of legislators, survivors and community organizations was “killed” in the Assembly of Public Safety, causing a “media firestorm” of response. Grove recalls the cries of prayer that went up from believers across the state and says that she “saw the church engaged like they had never engaged before” to draw attention to the decision.

Miraculously, the same body of officials that killed the bill on a Tuesday, resurrected the bill two days later following public outcry, and it was signed into law by the governor that Friday. Grove says, “It was simply a ‘But God’ scenario.”

She states that the most vulnerable population in her state are foster children and those aging out of the foster care system. These children and youth are already considered “at-risk” due to their current circumstances. The California Child Welfare Council’s CSEC Work Group published a fact sheet that states, “Sex traffickers and exploiters are known to target foster youth because of their unique vulnerabilities and accessibility.” 

National statistics support this statement and show that the majority of trafficking victims are perpetrated on by someone known to them such as a family member or caregiver.

Grove encourages anyone who wants to advocate for vulnerable children and youth or raise awareness of human trafficking to consider becoming foster parents or starting awareness efforts within their local church.

Learn more about human traffic prevention and foster care ministry.

Ashley B. Grant

Ashley B. Grant has a master's degree in Human Services Marriage and Family Counseling from Liberty University and is a credentialed Christian counselor through the American Association of Christian Counselors. Grant also holds certifications in crisis pregnancy counseling and advanced life coaching. Ashley is a fourth generation Assemblies of God preacher’s kid and has one daughter and three sons.