Sex Slaves in Southern California

Los Angeles - They come to America for the promise of a new life, but end up forced into prostitution and sold as sex slaves.

Women being forced into sexual slavery is a huge international problem that's now hitting the State of California especially hard.

Carolina Harris/Human Trafficking Victims' Advocate:
"People believe that we dont have any slaves anymore. We do because this is a really good industry. They make a lot of money doing this."

Carolina Harris works at the Women's Transitional Living Center in Orange County.

The shelter helps victims who were lured into this country with the promise of a good job, only to be enslaved once they got here.

Many of the women are from Mexico and El Salvador.

Maria, a former sex slave, says her captors would torture her with electric shock if she didn't follow orders, and she showed us the scars on her body.

Maria says she paid a coyote $5,000 to bring her to California, but when she got here, they asked for more money.

Gina Silva, FOX 11 News:
"How much money were they asking for?"

Maria, Former Sex Slave:
"They wanted another $6,000. I didn't have it so I was forced to work it off."

In Claudia's case, she never paid a coyote. She says she was kidnapped one night near her place of work and forced into a brothel.

Gina Silva, FOX 11 News:
"How were you kidnapped?"

Claudia, Former Sex Slave:
"They beat me up. I lost consciousness. I don't know if they drugged me."

The Department of Homeland Security estimates 800,000 people are smuggled across international borders every year for sex slavery. Nearly 18,000 of those are into the United States.

Lt. Derrick March, Westminster Police Department:
"We're only touching the tip of the iceberg of what's really going on... and that's only of sexual exploitation. We're not even looking at the labor exploitation."

Lt. Derrick Marsh of the Westminster Police Department is part of the Orange County Human Trafficking Task Force. He says sexual exploitation is a growing problem... and the victims end up in places where you'd least expect.

Lt. Derrick March, Westminster Police Department:
"A lot of the international trafficking ends up in massage parlors... residential brothels... chiropractic clinics."

The task force conducts several raids throughout the year in hopes of rescuing the victims.

When Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stormed into a suspicious South Los Angeles home a little over a year ago, they found about 80 people being held against their will.

Lupita was one of the women rescued from that group.

Her captor had gotten her pregnant, and she says he'd been beating her in hopes that she would abort the baby. Lupita's baby somehow survived and he's now a healthy one-year-old.

These survivors of sexual slavery say they are slowly picking up the pieces of their shattered lives, and telling their stories to bring awareness to a problem few people think exists in America.

Gina Silva, FOX 11 News:
"The day that you were rescued... what was that like for you?"

Lupita, Former Sex Slave:
"It was a day of joy. When they came in to rescue us, I said 'Thank God. Thank God.'"

If you suspect a case of human trafficking, you can call your local police department to report it.


More Resources:

Children of the Night, which specializes in dealing with children being forced into sexual slavery, can be found at childrenofthenight.org.

HumanTrafficking.org has information about the issue around the world.

The Women's Transitional Living Center is a non-profit organization that seeks to end domestic violence and human trafficking. See wtlc.org or call 714-992-1939 for information.