CITY EFFORT TACKLES SMUGGLING WORKERS TO BE TRAINED TO IDENTIFY ENSLAVED.

Byline: Rachel Uranga Staff Writer

As one of the world's major hubs for human traffickers, Los Angeles today will launch the nation's largest effort to battle the mostly invisible crime that sends up to 18,000 people to the U.S. every year as slaves.

More than 30,000 city employees from meter readers to planners will be offered training on how to recognize victims - part of a $10 million national effort.

``There are people right now that are living in people's homes that are enslaved. They are petrified and in fear. This training will help (city workers) know what to look for,'' said Gerrie Rosen, director of Refugee Safe Haven at the African Community Resource Center in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles is offering training to more of its city workers than any metropolitan region.

Authorities say trafficking victims often go undetected because officials who come across them aren't trained to recognize the telltale signs, such as intimidation and fear.

An estimated 15,000 to 18,000 people are brought into the United States annually as slaves, mostly coerced into physical and sexual labor. Authorities estimate half of those in Los Angeles are exploited for sex and many are funneled into the San Fernando Valley's pornography industry.

Councilman Tony Cardenas, who formed the Human Trafficking Task Force last year, is leading the city effort to crack down on human slavery.

Victims - many who have been either emotionally or physically beaten into submission - are too afraid to come to authorities.

Thanks to an astute man at a bus stop last year, two African women were freed from a hellish life.

``We were so scared. We had no passports. We had nothing. He said 'Don't be afraid, this is America.' But we had nothing,'' explained one of the women, who asked not to be identified.

A prominent Saudi Arabian family brought her and the other woman to Los Angeles while they vacationed. The family kept the women from talking to others and leaving the house, except to go to the market. Every minute of their day was controlled.

The man at the bus stop directed them to the African Resource Center. The two women fled with just the clothes on their backs.

The city-employee program comes on the heels of several initiatives locally and nationally to crack down on slavery, including a state law that allows local officials to investigate and prosecute traffickers.

``Los Angeles is a point of entry, a destination and a place of large ethnic enclaves where (traffickers) can hide,'' said Steven Wagner, the director of the Health and Human Services Trafficking in Persons Program. ``The existence of the pornography area in this city also increases our sense of concern.''

The bulk of slaves are brought over by criminal syndicates from East Asia, followed by Latin America and Eastern Europe, he said.

The group leading training for city workers and the LAPD say timidity and silence in adults are key signs of slavery.

``It's a spreading problem, and if we don't check out one another these kind of things go unnoticed,'' said Kay Buck, executive director of the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking.

Rachel Uranga, [phone]

rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com