Latest / Voices for Voices® / Traffickers Target Comic-Con | Here's What Parents Need to Know | DA Summer Stephan

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Traffickers Target Comic-Con | Here's What Parents Need to Know | DA Summer Stephan · Voices for Voices®

• 0:01
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Hi everyone, it's Justin here, Voices for Voices.
• 0:05
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Thank you so much for watching and listening.
• 0:08
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Whether you're here in the United States or across the world, we're grateful to have you with us.
• 0:14
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: If you could do a quick favor that is free, if you can give us a thumbs up, like, follow, subscribe, share, reshare, repost, and maybe even pull out your phone and uh share the Voices for Voices podcast with uh maybe 25-year contacts.
• 0:32
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Uh, we have huge goals, one of which is to reach and to help at least 3 billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond.
• 0:41
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: And we wouldn't have a show if it wasn't for our viewers and listeners.
• 0:45
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: So thank you for tuning in, whether this is your first show or you've been with us from the beginning.
• 0:52
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: We are delighted uh to have uh our uh guest today back from uh last year.
• 1:00
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: So uh making this an an annual uh interview.
• 1:05
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Um, we're hoping to do this uh in in person.
• 1:08
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Uh uh my schedule just didn't allow for that to happen.
• 1:13
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: So we're hoping to do that here in the next uh couple months uh is to uh do uh do a show uh from our our guest's office uh in person.
• 1:24
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: So without further ado, I want to introduce our our guest, the district attorney of San Diego County, Summer Stephan.
• 1:34
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Thank you so much for coming back and joining us on the show.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: It's so good to be with you and uh to have uh the voice of the victims and survivors be uh brought forward on the show.
• 1:50
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Absolutely.
• 1:51
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: And you do a very um uh a very good good job of not just the actions of uh the you know the the convictions and and uh upholding the the law uh in your county, but you do a good job, I I would say great, because I I don't see other district attorneys across the United States really communicate about that, letting letting your constituents know what's going on in the community.
• 2:29
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Um how how did that I guess strategy come come about that you wanted to not only uh you know have those actions but also just sharing what what's going on?
• 2:41
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: You have you know periodic updates uh that I see that you're able to share directly with your uh with your constituents.
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so that that wasn't intuitive uh for me.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Having grown up in public service, we tend to do our jobs.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: You know, for 28 years I was in the courtrooms fighting for the most vulnerable to get justice for children who are harmed, women, children, men, boys, everybody.
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: Uh and you just do it quietly.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: But I realized when I became the elected district attorney that the trust with the community is built on information and communication.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: And that the benefit of that isn't just to kind of talk about what we're doing, but really to allow through that trust for people to report what they see to law enforcement, to have victims and survivors come forward and report the harm that's happened to them so that we can take action.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: So the benefits of communicating are this trust building and then the ability for victims and community to feel comfortable letting us know what's happening so we can protect them so we can take action.
• 4:11
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Absolutely.
• 4:11
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: And this time uh of the year, uh this week, uh actually uh you have uh a uh pretty big uh event, the uh Comic Con in San Diego, and uh I I happened to see uh your video, which I thought was just spot on, uh, you know, talking about how uh people that are not nice people, I guess is the easiest way to say it.
• 4:43
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Um how they prey on their their victims and with with Comic-Con being uh a big part of it, you know, dressing up as you know, a superhero, of how it can make it a little easier for the people that are unfortunately looking to harm others.
• 5:05
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Uh can you maybe just do like a little refresh of that that video so we can share that?
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Sure, absolutely.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: So, you know, San Diego County, you know, is is home to a lot of incredible events, Comic-Con being one of them.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: And you know, I'm uh I'm a fan of Comic-Con and Superheroes and you know, Star Trek and all of those things that I've loved for years.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: But whenever you have an event that's bringing in 150,000 people, um you have traffickers that use um the congestion and the event to bring victims of human trafficking mostly for uh to sell them for prostitution and to make a profit.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: Because you've got a concentration of tourists, you've got so much activity, you've got police, you know, tied up with trying to manage traffic and uh everything that's going on to keep the community safe, so they can hide within those big events.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: Comic-con is one of them, but whether it's you know the football games we just witnessed or um you know different um events where a large amount of people are coming, you find it's not the event itself, it's the ability for these traffickers to make higher profit because of the concentration of people that are willing to spend money.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: So they advertise these victims and they bring them.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Some are local from San Diego, but from Las Vegas, Oakland, across the United States to the big event.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: So, my my warning was we we we are not gonna sleep, we're gonna keep an eye on you.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: We want the community to report anything suspicious that's happening in our hotels, motels, or are Bs and Bs, and our human trafficking task force will be there.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: In fact, you know, for anybody who didn't take my word for it, last night we arrested nine.
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: Um, and so so again, when I tell you that we're alert and we are gonna keep protecting these victims, and you're not gonna be able to hide in big events or be able to advertise them for sale.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: Human beings are not for sale.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: Um, very, you know, children are not for sale, and you can't post them like they're a piece of uh, you know, hamburger in a drive-thru, or post them on these social media websites like you know, they're some kind of product.
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: They're not a product, they're human beings.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: And so, so this is the message, and I hope people listen because we're gonna keep going.
• 8:03
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Yeah, yeah, and it's fantastic, and and that's how I um came came across the the work that you were doing last year in a news conference that that uh you you held.
• 8:16
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Uh and it is uh a breath of fresh air to have uh I wish in in my area um there there was more active and involvement uh against uh people who are preying on uh children at the different uh activities and games.
• 8:40
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: And uh and I I I think it's it's great to be able to, as you just alluded to, that even just last night that there uh were people that you know might might think that like talk is cheap, but when it comes down to it, it's not.
• 9:00
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: You're you're backing it up with uh the resources, and I think that's that that's a that's a big thing.
• 9:07
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: And and when you mentioned just a bit ago about having uh uh police uh you know assign uh you know doing uh you know traffic uh duty and and all of these other aspects that brings a a large event, uh, it takes those resources away from being able to uh help out with the task force to um to to uh help kids, families feel safe when they're in your town, my town, and and I think it's a big thing uh no matter where we wherever we live, that uh we we have public officials like like yourself, uh that you're you're not just talking the talk, you know, you're walking the walk, you're you're you're you're putting action to to those words.
• 10:05
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: And I I I don't I wouldn't want to be somebody who's uh has bad intentions because um I I I think and it's just my my two cents um that a lot of traffickers are uh being exposed, and uh when they're being exposed, they don't like that.
• 10:37
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: And when they don't like that, then they sometimes go after their victims, uh survivors of human trafficking, however, sex trafficking, labor trafficking, uh uh however that may be.
• 10:54
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: And and that can can scare a lot of lot of people of just going, oh my gosh, I I I I can't tell anybody.
• 11:02
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: And here you are, you're like, no, we we have the resources, we want you to tell us safe space, and uh instead of you know having a person kind of be uh be afraid for many, many years of oh, I can't say anything because I was told told this.
• 11:28
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Uh do you feel that the community uh is following up with you?
• 11:37
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Like you do you feel like they're they they're getting it and and able to feel uh feel safe to be able to tell.
• 11:46
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: It's one thing for you to share that, but it's another for victims, survivors to come forward.
• 11:54
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Has that process eased for survivors and and victims, or do you see that getting harder with just as the days go by?
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: You know, you really hit it on the nose.
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: It's um, you know, the the idea uh that we sometimes think that it's easy for people to come forward and report abuse, you know, especially children.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: And we sometimes blame them even for not reporting.
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: And you know, we say, well, why, you know, it's been several years, why why now?
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: And we attribute sometimes bad motives or um that they're not telling the truth.
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: But the reality is that it's really hard to report being abused, and many times the abusers and the traffickers they make themselves almost like a family member to the victim.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: They build those kind of what what the experts call trauma bonds, where the victims are so attached, you know, to the abusers that they think that they're the only one that's there to protect them.
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: Um, and this is what makes it really hard.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: So it takes time.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: It's not overnight that we've built this trust.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: It's kind of by saying something and then doing it.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: And it's not just me, it's bringing a whole community of well-trained law enforcement in a task force like the operations we go on.
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: We always have victim advocates that are there that can support not just like a scary scene, but come in and provide that comfort and shelter and trauma.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: And we built what we call one safe places where people can just walk in and just kind of tip their toe into reporting.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: No one is gonna force them into it, but they can get some clothing, get uh a sweater, you know, feel comfortable to report.
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: So it's not a one-off, you know.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: I think it's a journey, and we are seeing the results of that journey in that San Diego seems to have a disproportionate number of cases where the victims of human trafficking themselves are reporting, which means that they are seeing themselves as uh victims and as deserving of a life of freedom and dignity, which the abusers uh, you know, they keep them trapped in shame, whether it's child molest, sexual abuse, um, whether it's domestic violence, whether it's human trafficking, all those have these um wheel of control that the abuser, the trafficker puts on the victim to to delay or to to have them never report.
• 15:03
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Oh yeah, that's uh yeah, it I I i I it's I this thought came to mind that if if a parent may be abusing their own child, children, that that that trauma bond is like we're family, like everything's okay, that it there's nothing wrong.
• 15:33
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: And and you're right, it could take many, many years to have an individual feel that that opportunity, that that safe space to be able to to share that, and it's it's really uh it's a hard thing to do because it's not trafficking and uh these aren't like terms that are they're not fun to talk about.
• 16:03
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: And people don't um you know, people might uh try to say on their resume that they you know got a certain education and in all these things, but when somebody comes forward and talks about these topics and these areas, nobody does it for fun.
• 16:22
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: I I mean because I that's that's one thing that I've come across in the last year is oh well, you know, they're they're lying.
• 16:32
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: It it's been this many years, and they're they're just making it up.
• 16:37
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: And it's like, you know what, like people don't that people aren't gonna come out and talk about because it's very personal, and and some of the things that go on are very, very personal and physical and deal with the bot parts of the body.
• 16:52
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Yeah, and it's uh it's great that you have this uh one safe uh spaces where individuals are able to come and have that advocate because it's one thing for um the a survivor of anything to share with with law enforcement.
• 17:16
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: They may have different views on on that, but they actually have an advocate who's been there and done that, I guess, is uh one way that could be shared.
• 17:30
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Uh to talk you know one-on-one with them because that advocate's been been there.
• 17:36
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: You know, law enforcement is uh doing their job, they're doing the their their missions, but they actually have that person also there that is talking almost their language, like uh as if it's a foreign language, which it's which it's not, but uh I I think that's a a huge thing.
• 17:59
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Now, adding the advocate to the the the task force, is that something that uh started in the beginning, or over time you were seeing that hey, this might be uh a good addition to what we're doing?
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: You know, for for us in San Diego, it's been a journey of learning.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: But one thing that I think um, you know, I did correctly is um intuitively, I always wanted to listen to the voice of the victims and survivors and learn from them.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: You know, I didn't assume that we have it all figured out and law enforcement.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Um, we know a lot, we know our specialty, our expertise.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: I know how to prosecute in the courtroom and prove cases.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: That's different than the mindset of what a survivor, a victim needs.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: And when you assume what they need and how they want to be treated, um, you kind of you miss something.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: So I just asked a lot of questions as we began uh our work and being able to build up the task force and doing the research to recognize that there is a big problem, it's hidden.
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: You know, people look for like physical signs of abuse or chains or someone kidnapped off the street, but the signs are so subtle that they were being missed by law enforcement.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: So by asking those questions of the victims and survivors, we knew this was an essential element.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: Because at the end of the day, you make your arrest, but what's gonna happen with this victim?
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: They are completely dependent on the trafficker.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: They don't have a bank account, they are just the the cash-producing machine through their own exploitation, usually in prostitution or child pornography.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: So, how are they gonna, you know, where are they gonna spend the night?
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: How are they gonna be safe?
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: How are they gonna eat?
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: So, by listening to them, we did build it in or you know, early on into our task force that we formed in 2016 with 15 different agencies that work hard.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: And that's why when um you have big events and you've got a lot of patrol that is diverted to different things, there's still the task force focused on responding and continuing to do our job.
• 20:41
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Excellent.
• 20:42
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: And the more the task force does, the more experience they get.
• 20:49
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: So, and like you said, in 2016 at the at the outset versus where we're at in 2026, is uh a lot of learnings, and and I think that's that's good for people to to to understand just about anything, is learning's a good thing.
• 21:09
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: I think it whatever the subject may may be that if we're continuing to learn, we're continuing to get better and communicate better, and um have people who truly not only are doing their job in the task force, but just as a human being, they're going, this could have been my daughter, this could have been my son, and it has a whole new level, kind of a an emotional tie to it, and that's where you know the one of the ways that the trauma can come come into a uh a task for members, task force member.
• 21:59
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: home at the end of the day because they come home to their families and sometimes it's hard to separate that uh the the work versus you know the the the the home life with so many uh people um unfortunately taking their own lives and uh really if they understood the big impact that they were having um whatever peace that they were looking for uh that it's truly uh remarkable work to to do that because I even say with with doctors and nurses like that those are professions like I I just can never I can never do and so the people that do that that are they're special individuals and on your excuse me on your task force and other areas it's also a takes a very special type of person to be involved in those uh operations and then uh the communication and then having the advocate all built in there kind of as a as a support team as an as opposed to just seeing one officer that it's it's a group effort and and you're trying to cover all the the the basis to have uh those individuals not not just when the trafficker is arrested off the street that they are going to have some trauma some level of trauma inside and it may take many years even after a trafficker is taken off the the street so you kind of have the the trauma that's going on with the trafficking and then if the trafficker is taken off the street it it it's not like uh I'll say like a a sprained ankle where you can just see it and be like okay I can see it healing like the mind is is a lot different so thank you for including that uh that mind aspect because that's that's a big that's a big deal to people yeah and and your show obviously focuses a lot on mental health and that's really important and you've hit on a lot of important areas one of them is the you know the trauma for the victims and recognizing that there isn't just arresting and prosecuting is not going to be an instant cure.
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: It's we have to be able as a civilization to bring the supportive systems to let people really free themselves of the their own trauma.
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: We recovered a 13 year old the other day from the streets it's hard to imagine and a 17 pregnant girl recently and um you know it's not like they ran into the courageous police officers' arms because they recovered them in their own mind they had been told over and over that law enforcement is the enemy you know and can't be trusted and so it it took some time you know in therapy and um being able to give them the supportive systems and building that trust by keeping our word what we say to them for them to begin that true healing journey and then another thing you hit on is the professionals the officers the prosecutors that do this day in and day out you know for many years we didn't focus on our own mental health from um the the the basically being witness to trauma time and time again officers walking in on the worst scenes and so we are spending more time trying to make sure we're well ourselves in order to properly and compassionately and not going to lose our patience as we deal with these difficult issues.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: And you know it's a really hard time for parents and we see for example a lot of uh European uh countries now banning the use of social media for kids under the age of 16 and 15.
• 26:44
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: We've seen so many suicides so much trafficking recruitment happen online for kids so I want to make sure that your listeners your viewers also pay attention to those mental health signs of kids withdrawing of you know spending too much time online um and changing behavior changing their set of friends there could be more going on they could be getting you know cyberbullied or recruited by a predator or forced into sexploitation doing things that they don't want to do with their bodies so it's just more complicated time so more effort to pay attention to those mental health signs uh be alert learn study as a parent as a guardian as anybody who cares for a child um and having that communication not just through text you know um can be a lifesaver and we we've heard those stories from victims and survivors many of whom were recruited at a young age online wow so how do you do it how uh with the with the work that that you do I I I would uh assume that because you this is just one area that you uh you you work work in uh and work on um how how does uh somebody like your your yourself uh uh make the mind stronger or or any any tips to anybody that's in the leadership role that uh how they could uh yeah I guess I how they can separate the the the job from you know the the family uh aspect so it's a good question and it's of course harder because I I am now an you know elected district attorney since 2018 so there's a lot more not just the pressures of the case but uh having people you know loving you know to threaten and you know that's always there but I think I you know my saving grace has always been being able to focus not kind of internally and personalized but focus on service and on others it's almost a self-feeding self-like recovery because I'm constantly by not focusing so much on what's happening to me while being alert to it it's kind of the the purpose driven life you know focusing on the service on others uh also like I drink a lot of water I know that seems strange but no remaining hydrated you know being healthy by hydrating and you know focusing on you know eating an apple um you know doing something that's quick because I can't like sit down for you know big meals but having nutrition that is healthy that can sustain you know the the work and breathing you know exercising all those things of course I can't do them except in like 10 minute increments but you could still fit them in the day if you um think about it and you know I have my family my faith all the things that uh all of us have different things that we can count on and and um but I you know I'm really still very honored to serve and every time we're able to bring somebody out of that dark tunnel of um being victimized into the light and provide them with justice and care it's it's really worth it and I really appreciate being here to um you know highlight that and to kind of let anybody out there know you deserve to be safe you deserve to have respect and dignity and if you're in any situation that doesn't provide that from family or from people you're dating or somebody who you think is a friend but is really a predator um find a way to break away find those things in your community where you can get a support system and break away even if you're not reporting to police which I encourage at least find a way to leave that situation.
• 31:51
  Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes: Absolutely and for those uh watching and listening the bystander effect if if you see something that's going on don't keep walking don't keep move moving on because you don't want to be involved or whatever the the reason may be that uh you might be that person's last resort by you just happening to walk by and see something and and and to uh to do to do something about it to be uh one of our I guess uh she calls it being an upstander so kind of uh instead of just walking by stepping in and doing whatever you you or I or any viewer or listener that's a able to to do because uh at the end of the day we're we're all human beings and like you said we all deserve dignity and respect and uh to feel safe and healthy uh and uh and and and that can't happen just on our on our own we have to as a society as as just the human race and all across the the the globe to uh have have that mindset of uh of truly if you see something say something if something just doesn't feel right there our intuition is right I think more than it's more than it's wrong and the worst thing that could happen is get in touch with authorities and find out that the situation isn't a bad situation that it's a that there's more more to it and and so I I always try to share that as well um be because we're not the average average everyday person doesn't have a lot of that knowledge but to be able to reach out and say hey this didn't seem right this doesn't look right can somebody come and check this situation out and then you can continue on on on your way but at least let the proper authorities know uh and and let let them take care of it and and not just walk by because we see something that's going on or we're and we're trying to pretend it's not because unfortunately things things are going on and it's up to us to uh to share and report not just the survivors and the victims it's up to us as a society as a whole to uh to to do that uh thank you so much for joining us uh da summer step and it's uh always enjoy our conversations look forward to doing uh a show in in person um and we'll we'll let let your let your staff know and I want to give a big thank you to your staff especially Tanya for making this uh come about uh being able to uh fit this in your in your schedule uh the week of uh another big event uh that's at Comic Con and and then you mentioned the the uh football uh matches that uh occurred as as well that were breeding grounds per se for people who may be up to no good uh so thank you very much we're so honored to have you with us I always enjoy talking to you and the substance of this um this conversation thank you so much have a great day thank you you as well take care bye.