January declared Human Trafficking Awareness Month in SLO County

As a human trafficking trial is set to begin in San Luis Obispo Superior Court, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday declared January Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

District Attorney Dan Dow requested the proclamation during a supervisors’ hearing. Since June 2014, five people have been charged with human trafficking in the county in two separate cases. One of those, Oscar Higueros Jr., is set for trial this week.

A year ago, Dow announced the formation of the San Luis Obispo County Human Trafficking Task Force, comprised of various county departments, federal, state and local law enforcement and community-based organizations. The goal of the task force is to combat and prevent trafficking, to allocate resources and to assist victims.

The task force provides posters to businesses with hotline numbers for victims to seek help or for the public to report unlawful activities. Anyone interested in displaying a poster can call Diana McPartian at the victim and witness assistance center, at 781-5821.

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 4:59 PM with the headline "January declared Human Trafficking Awareness Month in SLO County."