Officials and law enforcement meet to discuss human trafficking

Prosecutors, lawmakers and police are meeting to plot a plan to eradicate human sex trafficking in California and across the nation.

The symposium is being hosted by the YWCA Greater Los Angeles today at the Museum of Tolerance in the city.

YWCA spokeswoman Cynthia Heard says the event is a groundbreaking gathering to examine the challenges and discuss best practices for combatting domestic human sex trafficking.

Officials from Los Angeles, San Diego and Alameda counties and California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris are expected to discuss their approaches to a problem that primarily affects women and children.

According to a 2005 International Labour Organisation paper, human trafficking brings in about $32 billion annually. The vast majority of that money, or nearly $28 billion, comes from forced commercial sexual exploitation.