Photo illustration of a child victim of human trafficking. (Photo: 271 EAK MOTO)As many Californians struggle with the effects of COVID-19, what this pandemic means for human trafficking victims is their abusers have yet another way to coerce and exploit. Before COVID-19, victims already faced extreme barriers to safety, health services, and employment; now, they are vulnerable to even greater unrelenting abuse.
A woman wearing a surgical mask for protection against the coronavirus. Photo: Maridav, via Shutterstock)When a person who has been sexually assaulted or is trying to escape a domestic violent situation comes to either of Community Solutions’ two offices, they will notice two things. First, the doors are open. Second, the waiting room has no chairs. As is the case with all of California’s 84 rape crisis centers, Community Solutions is continuing to provide services to clients in need during the COVID-19 crisis.
A traumatized woman alone in her room. (Photo: ChameleonsEye, via Shutterstock)At 10 p.m., Jane Doe is sexually assaulted in Springville, a small town of 1,100 in Tulare County, forty-five miles west of Visalia, at the edge of Sequoia National Forest. After a night working through shock and trying to process what happened, Jane calls the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office, who dispatch an officer from Porterville. It is 10 a.m. The officer arrives 30 minutes later.
A section of the Rubicon Trail at D.L. Bliss State Park in South Lake Tahoe. (Photo: AJ9, via Shutterstock)OPINION: It’s time to shift the conversation around parks in California. New data is illuminating the need to look at state parks in communities a bit differently. Rather than measuring their value by their undeniable beauty, new research illustrates a clear opportunity to measure parks by their impact on our public health and communities.
Photo illustration of a woman held captive, a victim of human trafficking. (Photo: Structuresxx, via Shutterstock)OPINION: I’m a survivor of human trafficking. When I was 7, I was sold into trafficking by my abuser. A young woman just a few years older than me, who had also been trafficked, helped free me when I was 11 years old. I didn’t see myself as a survivor until I saw other survivors take ownership over what happened to them and transform their healing to action.
A hospital hallway and emergency room. (VILevi, via Shutterstock)OPINION: AB 1250 would jeopardize access to care for millions of Californians by scrambling the current system, burying hospitals with new bureaucratic mandates, blizzards of paperwork and unnecessary red tape. Hospitals would be forced to divert limited financial and human resources from their mission of caring for patients.
Suggested options for a California pro-choice license plate.Twenty-eight states currently offer “Choose Life” license plates, but California may be the first state in the country offering solely pro-choice plates. The plate would join 14 other special-interest license plates that raise money for a number of agencies, including the California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Arts Council, California Coastal Commission and Lake Tahoe and Yosemite Conservancy.
A youngster pays a visit to the dentist. (Photo: Wavebreakmedia)California lawmakers are considering a bill that would double reimbursement rates for Denti-Cal providers in order to entice more dentists to accept the insurance that covers low-income residents. The hope is to get dental care to more people – especially children. According to recent reports by the state auditor and the Little Hoover Commission, less than 38 percent of the 5 million eligible children actually received Denti-Cal care in 2014.
Synthetic cells, a 3D illustration. (Jurik Peter, via Shutterstock) The $3 billion California stem cell agency said it is losing one of its top leaders, James Harrison, one of the authors of the measure that created the agency and who most recently is serving as its “unflappable” general counsel.
A depressed man sits alone on a park bench. (Photo: Mikael Damkier)OPINION: Nearly two decades ago, California raised the bar for our state’s wellness by requiring insurers to equally cover services for both physical and mental health conditions. Now a national standard, California’s groundbreaking Mental Health Parity law was among the first to recognize how grave inequities in the form of higher co-pays or fewer allowable visits diminish wellness and productivity.