USD Magazine Spring 2017

Joint EFFORT

Breaking

New Ground

The School of Law, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies and the School of Leadership and Education Sciences (SOLES) joined forces this summer to research ways to combat human trafficking through educational and legislative measures aimed at reducing the demand for commercial sexual services. The Center for Educa- tion Policy and Law (CEPAL) — housed within SOLES — funded the research, which was led by Dr. Ami Carpenter of the Kroc School, who worked in close collaboration with Robert Fellmeth, Price Professor of Public Interest Law at the USD School of Law.

MAKE A GIFT NOW There are many ways to contribute to Leading Change: The Campaign for USD . Go online to learn more about how to give matching gifts, stocks, mutual funds, planned gifts, life insurance policies and much more. Work continues on both of these fronts, representing interests both inside and out- side the judicial/law enforcement system. The key is wide consultation and consen- sus-building, which — thankfully — is some- thing that all three schools know how to do. testify against their trafficker. The study also proposed an effort to pro- mote the widespread adoption of sex-traf- ficking prevention curriculum in San Diego County Schools. Already there are several new initiatives underway; demonstrating their impacts will hopefully contribute to future efforts to set aside dedicated state or federal funding to scale up sex trafficking prevention in middle and high schools in San Diego County.

T

proposed the pursuit of legislative measures aimed at reducing the demand for commer- cial sexual services and enhancing resources and services for CSEC victims. With regard to the latter, the Children’s Advocacy Institute — which resides within the School of Law — will lead the effort to create a third track within the juvenile court system to address the unique needs of these victims. The removal by SB 1322 of the criminal sanction and stigma is important, but it now creates a special need for defined place- ments and services to protect those victims from their previous exploiters and give them a safe path forward. This is a victim-centered approach that relies on relationship-building and, which recent research suggests, may produce better results in getting victims to

his study was made possible through gifts from the William D. Lynch Founda- tion for Children to the School of Law’s Children’s Advocacy Institute and the Dam- meyer Charitable Gift Fund to CEPAL. The study focused on two pillars: (a) new legislation that addressed the need to stop the commercial sexual exploitation of chil- dren (CSEC) and (2) educational programs meant to shift public attitudes towards prostitution and cultural norms that devalue women and girls. California passed several new laws in 2016, including decriminalizing child prostitution (SB 1322), and adding sex trafficking prevention to the sexual health education curriculum (SB 1165). While these bills are not without their crit- ics, they represent important steps forward. Building on this momentum, the study

Office of Annual Giving (619) 260-4724 leadingchange.sandiego.edu

leadingchange.sandiego.edu