SAN BERNARDINO >> The young woman stepped up before a crowd in front of the offices of the San Bernardino County Children’s Network on Saturday morning and explained how as a 12-year-old she became a human trafficking victim.

The young woman, who only identified herself as Rashanae C., is 18 now, a college student majoring in child development before determining if she will become a teacher or a social worker.

Even though she is no longer “in the life,” as she refers to prostitution, she still faces challenges.

“It doesn’t get easy. It’s hard,” Rashanae said, describing her life now.

Rashanae is one of the success stories. After addressing the crowd some of the approximately 400 people who took part in Saturday’s 2017 Human Trafficking Awareness Walk came up to her and offered hugs, words of encouragement and congratulated her for having the courage to share her story.

Organizers said the event, consisting of a short gathering and 1-mile walk, offers a chance to celebrate the success of those who were once trafficked and who have rebuilt their lives as well as raise public awareness about the issue in San Bernardino County.

Human trafficking is a term and problem that is something foreign to many members of the public, said Anne-Michelle Ellis, coordinator with the San Bernardino County Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation, or CASE.

“They have heard that term and think it’s something that happens in other countries,” Ellis said Friday.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students says human trafficking can involve children and adults, U.S. citizens and noncitizens, males and females.

Victims of human trafficking can be forced to work in many areas including agriculture, sweat shops, nail salons and domestic work but they can also be forced into prostitution, stripping or pornography, Ellis said.

CASE, which includes the involvements of a number of San Bernardino County agencies, focuses on the plight of underage youth who are human trafficking victims.

Just how many children and teens are being sexually exploited is not clear, Ellis said. Different organizations offer different estimates but “we really don’t know.”

During the past six years CASE has worked with about 160 youth, mostly girls, ages 13 to nearly 18, who have been rescued from sexual exploitation situations, she said.

Rashanae told the crowd she is the youngest of four children born to parents who both had substance abuse problems.

Rashanae said she felt invisible at home. One day she met a man in his 30s who took an interest in her. To Rashanae the man was a father figure but he ended up exploiting her.

“I was in the life for about two years and in and out of jail,” she said.

Rashanae was in court when she met a woman with the nonprofit Family Assistance Program. The Program has Open Door, a department dedicated to working with the victims of human trafficking.

She has new life now, but Rashanae said after her talk that she is still dealing with her own insecurity issues which can make the challenges of daily life feel more overwhelming to her than to the average person.

She continues forward, knowing “you just have to be strong-willed.”

Adalberto Sanchez and Luis Panduro are both San Bernardino residents and students at San Bernardino Valley College. The young men said they had some knowledge of what human trafficking was before they attended the event but have a greater understanding from listening to Rashanae. The two were impressed with her bravery.

“She was inspiring,” Sanchez said.

Jaileen Luna of San Bernardino was among those participating in the walk. Luna, a volunteer with Planned Parenthood of San Bernardino’s Peer Education Program, said she attended the walk last year but has a far better understand of what human trafficking is now than she did a year ago. That understanding has inspired her to work to help people understand the problem and plans to create an organization in the future to work with others to raise awareness.

She can’t fix the problem alone, Luna said, but “I know with one person you can start to make a change.”

Leah Angel Daniel of Buffalo, New York, is visiting family in Southern California. A relative invited her to attend the walk since she teaches a course to help people understand what human trafficking is.

The public needs to have a greater understanding of the issue, Daniel said.

“We have to educate ourselves to recognize it. People say, ‘I had no idea. If I had known I would have done something,’” she said.