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For years, Elizabeth Quiroz walked with her eyes lowered, a habit ingrained by the man who first trafficked her at age 15.
Today, Quiroz meets every gaze. Breaking free from a cycle of abuse, addiction, poverty, and incarceration, she co-founded the Redemption House of the Bay Area with Lisa Diaz-McQuaid, a survivor-led nonprofit for sex trafficking survivors. She hands out hygiene-filled purses in Sacramento’s “blade,” a hub for sex trafficking, leads educational trainings and runs a twice-monthly survivor support group.
The Justice Department defines human trafficking as a crime involving the exploitation of a person for labor, services, or commercial sex through force, fraud, or coercion. Data on the prevalence of human trafficking can be murky, but the Human Trafficking Hotline identified 2,045 victims of human trafficking in California in 2023.
California’s geography and infrastructure make it a hotspot for human trafficking, says Josh Singleton, commander of the multi-agency task force Law Enforcement Investigating Human Trafficking based in Santa Clara County. The state’s large population also fuels the demand for illicit labor and sex. Still, Singleton said, trafficking can happen anywhere.
Local law enforcement, nonprofits, and community groups are fighting trafficking at every stage—preventing exploitation, dismantling rings, and aiding survivors. Ahead of major sporting events in the Bay Area 2026, including the Super Bowl and the World Cup, these groups are ramping up enforcement and public awareness, given the possibility of a surge in trafficking cases as a large number of people travel to the area.
Singleton said that these sporting events will likely affect nine Bay Area counties, which will be hosted at Levi’s Stadium — the venue for the San Francisco 49ers — in Santa Clara County. About 100 law enforcement agencies are collaborating to develop strategic planning around human trafficking prevention, outreach, messaging, and training on best practices.
“We really pride ourselves in Santa Clara County of having a very robust human trafficking task force,” said Singleton. “What we don’t want to see is Santa Clara County handling trafficking a certain way, but maybe up in Marin County, they’re doing a different idea. We want to get everyone on the same page.”
As the events draw nearer, Singleton said LEIHT agencies will also conduct investigations to bust traffickers and recover victims.
Some organizations are also working to reform a legal system that, Quiroz said, criminalizes victims.
“They just treated me like I was an addict and a criminal,” Quiroz said. “I was actually told by a judge that I was a dangerous society when I was 19.”
South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking collaborates with groups like LEIHT to push for survivor-centered, trauma-informed policies on human trafficking. It also worked with the Santa Clara District Attorney’s office to update law enforcement protocols, requiring officers to contact service providers, like confidential advocates or sexual assault agencies, in trafficking cases.
“Human trafficking requires a different mindset for law enforcement, but also community members,” said Sharan Dhanoa, director of SBHCEH. “If you were trying to investigate a gang homicide, that’s going to be a very different approach than if you’re working human trafficking, because you really need to understand the dynamics, the power and control that traffickers often have with the victims.”
During Quiroz’s final period of incarceration, which lasted five years between San Mateo County and Sonoma County, she said that her interactions with Sheriff Christina Corpus, who treated Quiroz with care and humanity, restored her faith in law enforcement.
“At that time, I assumed they were all bad, but they’re not,” Quiroz said. “There’s a lot of good law enforcement out there.”
With FIFA, soccer’s governance body, mandating a human rights approach for all 2026 host cities, Dhanoa is also hoping to use the heightened platform to raise public awareness about labor trafficking risks, such as the vulnerability of subcontracted workers who have less power and fewer protections.
Other organizations are dedicated to helping trafficking victims escape their situations and thrive.
Vanessa Russell, founder of Love Never Fails, offers a range of services to survivors, including housing, mentorship, and education. A former tech professional who has also taught dance classes for many years, Russell was inspired to start the nonprofit after one of her 14-year-old dance students was sexually assaulted and trafficked. Her organization’s philosophy centers on love and compassion as tools for healing.
“We meet people in every situation, depending on where they are in their healing journey,” said Russell. “We may meet you on the street while you’re actively being sold, and we’re offering you wipes, we’re offering you like a sandwich. We’re not requiring anything of you to receive what we have.”
For Quiroz, the community of survivors she’s built at the Redemption House of the Bay Area is everything. Survivors in the support group frequently bring their children to meetings, where they play with each other and the group eats dinner together.
“We’re all family,” she said. “We’re having a hot meal together. You know, they want coffee. There’s a normal life. They do life together.”
Correction: This article has been updated to correct the names of Redemption House of the Bay Area and its co-founders.
