Hailey Starr

Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice Helen Ahn Lim spoke at the Human Trafficking lecture on Thursday, April 11. The event discussed human trafficking’s complexities, harms, and how to identify its indicators.

The Anti-Human Trafficking Club at California Lutheran University spreads awareness and provides skills to help combat human trafficking, and common misconceptions about the topic while providing help to the community while creating a safe space. 

Vice President of the Anti-Human Trafficking Club Sarah Burciaga said human trafficking is a prevalent issue today, as well as providing education on the topic and how to recognize it. 

“We’re looking to create a community to help bring awareness and help eradicate human trafficking, and go against some of the misconceptions,” Burciaga said. 

President of the Anti-Human Trafficking Club Stephanie Gonzalez said the club has made an effort to create connections with organizations around them.

“I feel like we have a good group going and it’s really inspiring to have so many people that are willing to hear about human trafficking,” Burciaga said. 

Some of the executive officers’ favorite things about the club include giving back to the community and being able to educate others about an important topic that affects so many people, as well as the opportunities provided such as internship opportunities. 

“I actually love how close-knit and connected we are, kind of a huge help in talking about such a dark subject,” senior and secretary of the Anti-Human Trafficking Club Madison Renken said.

Gonzalez said students on campus can benefit from this club as well such as providing internship opportunities and creating a community dedicated to giving back. She said the club helps in any way it can and provides a great experience for those going into the criminal justice field. 

Renken also said that they learn to pick up on cues of what human trafficking is, as not many people can notice the signs, and educating can help build protection in the community and for themselves. 

“Students should be interested in the club because of how relevant the topic is, not many people know about it but what we do know about it is that it does happen and it’s hidden in plain sight,” Renken said. 

All three executive officers mentioned that Helen Lim’s class about human trafficking was the main inspiration to create a club to spread awareness about the misconceptions, and inspired their passion to spread awareness. 

“I feel like it’s a really good cause to be helping and I think that there should be more awareness, cause I feel like there are a lot of common misconceptions about what human trafficking is, and if more people are aware we can help better combat the issue going on in our community,” Burciaga said. 

The club was started with an inspiration and passion for learning about what can be done to prevent human trafficking. Gonzalez said this includes helping those who might be in a trafficking situation that they may not be aware of.

Gonzalez said the club is open to anyone interested in the topic, especially for criminal justice majors who are required to have an internship, and for those who want to get involved with the community. 

“I feel like we do a lot of community service and I like bringing awareness, we had an awareness tabling event but in the future, we plan to do a lot of community-oriented work, like helping at homeless shelters and working with nonprofits,” Burciaga said. 

The club meets at least once a month on Wednesdays from 5:00-6:00 p.m.