The Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition hosted their annual Strengthening Sovereign Responses to Sex Trafficking in Indian Country and Alaska Conference the first week of April. CCVAP’s Anu and Nina (Outreach, Prevention, & Education Coordinator and SA Advocate) had the opportunity to attend this week-long conference in San Francisco and came back with a wealth of new knowledge and experiences to share with the rest of the team.

Cahuilla Consortium was honored to be invited to the White House Initiative Native American/Indigenous Education Summit at Cal State San Bernardino on Saturday March 23rd hosted by the California Indian Nations College (CINC).

As many of you may know, January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. In preparation of this, we will explore an overview of some common myths surrounding human trafficking in our country. First, let’s define human trafficking; the US Department of Justice codifies human trafficking as “a crime that involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts. Coercion can be subtle or overt, physical, or psychological. Exploitation of a minor for commercial sex is human trafficking, regardless of whether any form of force, fraud, or coercion was used.”

This week, our featured partner of the week is one we have previously highlighted in a previous edition of our quarterly newsletter, One Safe Place (OSP).

Our partner highlight of this week is one that many of you may already be familiar with, the Riverside San Bernardino County Indian Health, Inc. (RSBCIHI) clinic system. Found in 1968 on the Morongo reservation, the system is now the largest Indian Health program in the state of California.

Continuing with our series of highlighting the various other service providers in our region, we will be highlighting Partners Against Violence (PAV). Advocating for survivors for over 50 years, Partners Against Violence began as one of the earliest grass roots rape crisis centers in the state

It is difficult to think of the desert region in Riverside County without thinking about the many celebrities that have called the Palm Springs area home. Our partner highlight for this week owes its inception to two of these very celebrities from the region. Founded in 1986 by Barbara and Frank Sinatra, the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center is our featured partner this week!

For our blog this week, we are beginning a bit of a series in which we highlight community partners who are also dedicated to helping survivors of crime. Often when someone has been victimized, it can seem like there is no help or no way out. Therefore, we hope highlighting the many resources available to survivors can lend our readers some reassurance that there is help should they know anyone who is a survivor of a crime.