OCEANSIDE — A small group of dedicated volunteers spent three days walking 45 miles along the coastline from Oceanside Harbor to Coronado to raise awareness about human trafficking.
The walkers set out shortly after sunrise on June 12 from Oceanside Harbor, spending the next three days trekking along the San Diego County coastline.
Dawn Hesse, the organizer of the walk, volunteers with The Freedom Challenge, a movement led by women dedicated to ending human trafficking of women and children worldwide through prayer, physical challenges, fundraising and awareness efforts.
Freedom Challenge partnered with GenerateHope, a San Diego-based nonprofit that serves survivors of sex trafficking, to sponsor the walk.
Hesse and several other women began their journey on Friday morning at the harbor. The group continued south over the following days and was joined by GenerateHope volunteers on the third day in Old Town San Diego.
The walk concluded at Carole’s Cottage in Coronado, a renovated mansion donated to GenerateHope that provides long-term restorative care and guided independence programs for survivors of sex trafficking.
Hesse’s involvement with Freedom Challenge began in 2019 through mission trips. During those experiences, she became aware of the prevalence of human trafficking around the world. After returning to San Diego, she researched the issue locally and learned it was a significant problem in the region as well.
The International Labour Organization estimates human trafficking is a $150 billion global industry. According to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, sex trafficking alone generates an estimated $810 million annually in San Diego County.
The FBI identifies San Diego as one of the nation’s top 13 regions for the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
Trafficking does not necessarily involve secretly moving people across borders, however.
“A child can be born in San Diego, raised in San Diego, never leave San Diego, and be trafficked right here in San Diego,” the district attorney’s website states.
During the walk, volunteers spoke with passersby who were interested in their efforts. Several people told them they were unaware that human trafficking was occurring in their own communities.
For Hesse, bringing a Freedom Challenge walk to San Diego was a way to make a local impact on a global issue. She was inspired to organize the Oceanside-to-Coronado trek after hiking the El Camino de Santiago, a network of ancient pilgrimage routes across Europe.
“If I can walk 400 miles in 30 days, I can walk 45 miles in three days,” she said.
This was the inaugural year for the walk, which Hesse hopes will become an annual event.
Helping survivors regain their bodily autonomy and well-being remains a driving force behind Hesse’s commitment to the cause.
“We talk a lot about liberation, but these women have none,” she said. “They are not liberated, and they have no freedom. They are modern day slaves. I want that to stop.”
