In the News

In 1997, Ima Matul, a seventeen-year-old living in rural Indonesia, was offered a job as a live-in housekeeper in Los Angeles. The person who recruited her promised that, if she worked for a few years, she could leave with enough money to help her family build a new house and start...

At Courtney’s House, a Washington, DC, center for young sex trafficking survivors, founder Tina Frundthas been seeing kids every day who are afraid of the government shutdown. They’re worried, she says, that it is affecting the many services they sorely need. She spoke of one 19-year-old she works with who is still in school and...

The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) and the Freedom Network USA, with a combined membership of 80 leading U.S.-based anti-trafficking organizations, advocates and service providers, strongly condemn President Trump’s continued rhetoric attempting to justify a southern border wall in order to stop human trafficking. This misinformation is dangerous...

Every three years CAST and its national advocacy partners, The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) and The Freedom Network, USA, work to reauthorize the Federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). The TVPRA, first enacted in 2000, is the most important piece of federal anti-trafficking legislation designed to...

Cast is set to announce that we have identified a legislator to author our 2019 $12.5M budget proposal! This funding is critical to sustaining programs and services for California’s human trafficking victims trafficking seeking safety and a path to freedom in 2020, keeping the doors open at Cast and California’s...

Read about the impact that Cast has made in 2018.

As Thanksgiving approaches, we want to take a moment to give thanks to our partnership with the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, as they prioritize support for organizations like Cast that are working in the trenches to liberate and empower survivors of human trafficking. Our partnership reflects our mutual...

Local advocates are struggling with a new immigration memo that makes it more difficult to support these survivors. Rita (not her real name) had gone looking for help. She’s 29, living in Northern California, an immigrant from Honduras, who graduated as a professional makeup artist. “I’m not scared of driving,...

2018 Cast Courage Award — Lorena Barrios shares her story from slavery to freedom.

Friday, June 8, 2018, was truly a disappointing day in California for survivors of human trafficking, as the final California budget deal excludes any funding for victims of this modern form of slavery to escape and seek the help they need to be safe and healthy. The 10 million dollar...

A huge thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate our milestone 20th anniversary last Thursday- 20 strong years of empowering survivors of human trafficking! Check out the amazing honorees and festivities: 20th AnniversaryCelebration Photos Survivors celebrating freedom at CAST's 20th Anniversary Gala (LEFT). CAST's CEO and Executive Director, Kay...

Kay Buck, CEO of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, sheds light on the fight against human trafficking. In Focus California: SoCal airs Sundays at 8 a.m., and two new episodes of In Focus California: In Your Community will air weekly, on Mondays and Tuesdays at 12 Noon, on...

A statewide operation last week aimed at reducing human trafficking resulted in 510 arrests and more than 50 adult and juvenile women having been saved, authorities said Tuesday. “‘Operation Reclaim and Rebuild’ was a three-day assault on one of the most heinous crimes of modern times: The sexual exploitation of...

The following is a statement from Kay Buck, CEO of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST): There are currently more slaves alive than at any other point in history—over 27 million across the world. At the Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking (CAST), we spend each day providing...

The Assembly included a $10 million continuing request from the general fund in their budget for specialized services for trafficking victims. The Senate did not. This means we will go to Conference. We are asking for two things to support the $10 million budget item getting out of conference:  ...

"'Under current regulatory guidance, very few human trafficking victims in California are able to recover lost income through the state’s Victim Compensation Program, despite suffering economic loss due to the crimes committed against them. This legislation would ensure our systems are appropriately recognizing the unique form of commercial exploitation trafficking...

LOS ANGELES (February 16, 2017) Bet Tzedek, one of the nation’s premiere public interest law firms, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), one of the nation’s premiere legal and social service providers for survivors of modern day slavery, and California State Controller Betty Yee are proud to collaborate...

(Sacramento) – In the wake of a majorhuman trafficking sweep in Los Angeles yielding474 arrests and identifying at least 55 survivors, State Senator Henry Stern introduced legislation supported by a coalition of human trafficking groups, to expand access to hotline services. Backed by the National Council of Jewish Women CA,the...

As you’re scrolling through your Facebook feed tomorrow, you’re probably going to run into a lot of red Xs on hands, t-shirts, and even celebrities. These Xs are all in support of Shine A Light On Slavery Day, an effort to raise awareness of modern slavery and human trafficking by...

A human trafficking operation carried out by authorities throughout the state of California resulted in a total of 474 arrests and the rescue of 28 children and 27 adults. Operation Reclaim and Rebuild has been going on for three years, though this is the first year it has gone on...