Protecting Young People from the Clutches of Human Trafficking

When Sandy Esparza was growing up in South Central Los Angeles, she didn’t have a stable home life. She grew up without a father, ended up in foster care and ran away, making her an ideal target for human traffickers. After running away from foster care, she was trafficked from the age of 14 until she was 21. She was introduced to drugs and forced into prostitution and later strip clubs. She knew she could leave, but was consumed by shame and guilt, and felt emotionally trapped and unworthy of love.  “I was trafficked in [the San Fernando] Valley for…