January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and in anticipation of a surge in cases tied to the influx of visitors during the upcoming Super Bowl and World Cup events, Bay Area agencies are working with advocates to spread awareness, as the region is considered a hot spot.

As KGO reports, in preparation for Super Bowl 60 next month and the FIFA World Cup in June, officials across the Bay Area are focusing their efforts on combating human trafficking. Local airports, including San Francisco International Airport, have partnered with Freedom Insight to provide staff up-to-date training on recognizing and reporting potential cases, and placards with emergency contact info were placed in all SFO restrooms in 2021.

“We recognize the vital role that airports play in combating human trafficking, and this initiative demonstrates SFO's unwavering commitment to this effort,” said Airport Director Mike Nakornkhet in a press release. “We are grateful to Freedom Insight for providing their expertise to give our front-line airport employees the tools they need to help disrupt and dismantle this devastating activity.”

“At airport environments some of those red flags might be somebody who doesn't seem to know where they are and seem disoriented, they are not allowed by their companion to speak to anyone in the airport like TSA or the airline counter,” said Erika Keaveney, Freedom Insight's Executive Director, per KGO.

Transit agencies such as BART and AC Transit have provided ongoing training to their officers. In October Valley Transportation Agency hosted a conference attended by 200 law enforcement agents, transit service providers, and advocates addressing the topic. According to Josh Singleton of the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Human Trafficking Task Force, there are more human trafficking cases in California than any other state in the country, and a 2009 FBI report listed the Bay Area is one of its top 13 hot spots in the nation for child sex trafficking, per BART.

Per KGO, San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Marin County district attorneys will be boosting their staffing in order to take on more cases. “We have increased the number of prosecutors and investigators that are combating human tracking, and we actually have briefings coming up in the next few weeks from our federal partners about what kind of criminal trends we can expect to see with the coming of the Super Bowl and FIFA,” said Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen.

“What that means is having an army of victim's advocates who are working independently out of our offices, but work with community-based organizations to respond, to assist those victims,” said Brooke Jenkins, San Francisco District Attorney, per NBC Bay Area.

Per KGO, the NFL’s Bay Area Host Committee provided grant-funding to local advocacy groups ahead of the Super Bowl. “We are working with NFL to provide a total of $200,000 in grant funds to help three of our Bay Area's key anti trafficking nonprofits to bolster their ongoing efforts,” said Zaileen Jammohamed with the Host Committee.

Local advocate Adriana Flores of Solara House and Restorative Pathways told NBC Bay Area she recommends that human trafficking survivors seek help within the local communities. “Church or any spiritual denomination that you want to trust in the community. School, that's another great resource. The police,” Flores said.

Per NBC Bay Area, local law enforcement officers are prohibited from reporting to federal immigration agencies when working with undocumented survivors.

“San Francisco will not look the other way. Instead, we will coordinate across law enforcement, social services, and community partners, not in silos - not after the fact, but in real-time,” said San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, per NBC Bay Area.

See San Francisco Collaborative Against Human Trafficking for more information and resources on recognizing and reporting human trafficking cases.

Image: andreonegin/Getty Images

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