One woman shares her human trafficking experience with local Rotary groups
Pictured: Local rotarian Tony Taylor and Emily Sernaker/
A trip to Uganda as a teenager exposed Emily Sernaker to the idea of slavery for the first time and left a lasting impression.
“When I saw kids my age that had been through that [slavery] I was always struck more by our similarities than our differences,” Sernaker said. “It made me realize everyone deserves to be free and follow their dreams.”
Sernaker visited Uganda during her involvement with Invisible Children, an organization founded in 2004 to bring a permanent end to LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) atrocities.
She spent time with Invisible Children between the ages of 17 and 22.
Today, at 26 years old, Sernaker is working on a career championing human rights. She recently completed a four-month fellowship with Polaris Project in Washington, D.C.
Polaris Project was founded in 2002 as one of the nation’s first grassroots initiatives against human trafficking, dealing with both sex and labor trafficking. Since its inception, Polaris Project has worked directly with members of Congress to win passage of the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) of 2005.
The law was just renewed last week, and anti-trafficking law was passed in Wyoming, the last state left in the U.S. to come onboard.
Sernaker spoke this week to the Mammoth Lakes Sunrise and Noon Rotary clubs, as well as the Bishop Rotary Club about her experience.
The Mammoth Lakes Noon Rotary Club helped fund her fellowship, and Rotarian Tony Taylor is her connection to the Eastern Sierra.
Tony and his wife first met Sernaker when she was a student at the University of Redlands. Sernaker was the recipient of the scholarship the Taylors provide.
“We found Emily, as we do all of our scholarship recipients, very inspiring,” said Tony.
In an interview with The Sheet following her presentation to Sunrise Rotary, Sernaker explained that during her four-month integration into Polaris Project much of her time was spent working in the National Human Trafficking Resource Center as a Call Specialist for the nation’s 24-hour hotline dedicated solely to human trafficking.
Due to confidentiality clauses, she wasn’t able to provide any details about calls she received, but did say that 10-15 of them were “disturbing.”
“I had the most trouble hearing about physical assault and rape,” she explained. “But I felt good about the services we were providing.”
In addition to the hotline Polaris also provides one of the only transitional housing programs for trafficking survivors in the U.S.
During her fellowship, Sernaker was also trained to give presentations such as the one she gave in Mammoth and Bishop this week to educate others about human trafficking. This is the type of work Sernaker sees herself pursuing in the future.
“I learned that I can’t work on a hotline long term,” she explained. “Often times through the hotline I would get involved in the middle of a case and never know how things turned out,” she said, citing one reason why the work was difficult. “I would get a chapter of their story and try to help where I could.”
Sernaker said some of her ideal jobs would be at the International Rescue Committee, which has a trafficking component, or the Robert F. Kennedy Foundation.
Locally, Mono County Sheriff Ralph Obenberger told The Sheet, “I do not believe, nor does District Attorney Tim Kendall, that there are any indications of Human Trafficking (HT) in Mono County.” He did add, however, “Possible signs to be aware of are someone’s inability to leave a situation, they can’t just come and go from the workplace, possible signs of abuse, no relatives or friends in the area which makes them out of place, etc. District Attorney Kendall stated that their office has never encountered a HT case.”
For more information about Polaris Project visit polarisproject.org. If you are ever in need of the hotline, the number is 888.3737.888.
Free the Girls
Locally,, Kathy Copeland of Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra is collecting bras for Free the Girls, an organization providing an opportunity for women rescued from sex trafficking to earn a living selling second-hand clothing.
For more information you can contact Mammoth Lakes Sunrise Rotary members or Kathy Copeland. Donate your gently used bras until April 23.
(Photo: Kirkner)
