The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates there are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking globally, which includes those victimized by forced labor and forced marriages. About 75 percent of the victims are female and 25 percent are children under the age of 18, the ILO said.

Part of the reason that UBS focused on the issue is that it has been an issue frequently mentioned by clients in discussion about philanthropic goals, Costanza said. Planning for the campaign started in 2016 and it was formally launched at the beginning of the year, she said.

One of the things the education program stresses is that "you don't need to be moved from one location to another to be trafficked," said Bianca Morales-Egan, senior program manager of human trafficking prevention at Project Concern International (PCI), which, as part of the San Diego Trafficking Prevention Collective, is one of the organizations coordinating with UBS to carry out the campaign.

Morales-Egan stressed that most victims of human trafficking go about their normal lives after having been coerced into the sex business. The study of the San Diego trafficking problem found that only 12 percent of documented cases involved violent coercion, although it noted that this type of coercion may be underreported. More often, the study found, victims were coerced through monetary gifts (74 percent), psychological pressure (57 percent) and through the use of drugs (42 percent).

A focus of the prevention campaign is to alert teachers, parents and students themselves to the telltale signs of someone who is possibly a victim of human sex trafficking.

This includes signs that a student might be depressed or using drugs, Morales-Egan said. Other signs include a student suddenly brandishing tattoos or other "brandings" of a pimp or trafficker, or donning fancy, expensive clothes or purses. With traffickers also preying on victims online, the campaign also tells students and teachers to watch for students who start inappropriate relationships online, she said.

Falling asleep in class, owning more than one phone and being late or absent from school for extended stretches are other warnings signs, those involved in the campaign said.

"Does that person have an older boyfriend that is controlling every move and decision?" Morales-Egan said. "It's usually a multiple of these things, not just one of them, that we see as warning signs."

Beyond prevention, it is hoped the campaign will serve as a model that can be replicated in other high-risk areas of the nation, Costanza said.

"Now that the word is getting out, we're getting interest from a number of other regions," she said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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