Human Trafficking is Happening in our Backyard!!

Vicki Zito was our guest speaker at the June meeting. She shared her families personal experience as victims
of human trafficking. Our speaker took an issue that I always considered something that happens
“over there” and never in my backyard to something that is very real and can happen to any of us.
Her 17 year-old daughter was picked up at the local grocery store, taken to a motel in the Bay Area,
drugged, pimped out through ads on Craigslist, and repeatedly raped by men looking for sex with underage
girls.
Thankfully, her daughter was rescued. But hundreds of thousands of American children are at risk and
may currently be living under the same conditions her daughter experienced. She has joined forces with
an organization called Courage to Be You. (C2BU). C2BU’s efforts are focused on the rescue and restoration
of these innocent young victims by providing them the home they have been lacking. This home will be
called Courage House.
Courage House will be a safe, secure and nurturing environment where girls can live while they
begin their journey to recovery to realizing a life filled with hope and possibilities. However, in order for
Courage House to become a reality, it takes time and money. We have a core team of dedicated volunteers
as well as experts in the field of Human sex trafficking, working diligently toward the reality of Courage
House. However, we are now at a point where we are in need of financial resources to finish the job.
Therefore, we are asking for your financial assistance in making C2BU’s dream a reality. Your help
will not only make the goal of opening the first very Courage House here in Northern California a reality, it
will also enable C2BU to provide the supportive services these girls so desperately need once they are
rescued. Won’t you join with us to put an end to the abuse and sexual exploitation of minors and provide
them the life saving services they need?
Visit www.c2bu.org for more information on Courage House
Visit www.californiaagainstslavery.org this website has the latest information on Human Trafficking
CSW is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), dedicated
exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women. It is the principal global policy-making
body. Every year, representatives of Member States gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York
to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete
policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide. Zonta International was
recognized for our work in an advancing the status of women along with Avon, and Johnson and
Johnson, ZI President Dianne Curtis was there to accept this international recognition.