On Wednesday, August 5, Ruth Silver Taube, a workers’ rights supervising attorney with the Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center, participated in a human trafficking Information and Action Night event hosted by the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley at its Levy Family campus, in Los Gatos. The event included opening remarks by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, District Attorney Jeff Rosen, Supervisor Cindy Chavez, and Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith.
A central theme of the event was collaboration across different government agencies, service providers and community members to address this problem in a comprehensive manner. In her call to action, Lofgren noted that human trafficking represents a $150 billion industry worldwide, with prostitution and forced labor being the main reasons for this transgression. She applauded the efforts of the many Bay Area organizations that have joined efforts in this battle and urged members of the community to remain vigilant. The event included a viewing of “Know the Red Flags,” a 12-minute video that described many of the tell-tale signs of a victim of human trafficking.
The second half of the engagement featured a panel discussion moderated by Sharan Dhanoa, Coordinator for the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking. Members of the panel included Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup, County of Santa Clara Office of the Sheriff; Perla Flores, Division Director, Community Solutions; Ruth Silver Taube; and Paola Estanislao, Deputy District Attorney, County of Santa Clara (shown in the photo left to right). Their discussion centered on community challenges and responses.
Through the work of its attorneys Ruth Silver Taube and Lynette Parker and its many partnering organizations, the Alexander Community Law Center has been a key protagonist in the fight against human trafficking. It played a pivotal role in establishing the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking in 2005, and has assisted dozens of human trafficking survivors in obtaining immigration relief, unpaid wages and work-related benefits.
