This is what human trafficking looks like in the Tenderloin today

Wednesday...one of those beautiful cool San Francisco days. 
The legal system is grinding on as the court holds a public hearing about "Total Comfort Spa" - a business about 1 block from here that claims to earn money by allowing men to rest, drink water, and take showers during the day and night.

When police searched the property and found massage  beds, the owner claims they were "here when we moved in" and "we just haven't gotten rid of them."

When the judge asks, "What do you do in your business?"  The man pretends not to understand.  Then says that men come to "rest" during the day (or night).  He points to a bewildered and frightened looking young Asian woman dressed in a business suit and introduces her as "my employee."  What does she do? the judge asks.  "She brings water and towels to the men." 
Do you use the massage beds? the judge asks.....the business is not registered or inspected as a massage parlor, so use of the beds is illegal.  "No" the man insists.

Evidently the "resting men" lean against the wall or lie on floors or perhaps levitate.  This man, who divides his time between his "business interests" in Los Angeles and Total Comfort Spa here in the Tenderloin, tells bold lie after bold lie.  He acts as if everyone should think it natural and true that men pay to rest in rooms where they don't use the beds and beautiful, young Asian women simply hand them water and towels.  He describes the tough-looking bouncer who guards the locked front door 24/7 as "security." 

The judge doesn't ask to talk to the frightened young woman.  And, what would she say?  She may be here illegally. She may be frightened for her life.  She may have a child or aged parent to support. She may live in the building 24/7 and is rarely (ever?) allowed to leave.  No one knows.  And, no one asked.

What I'm understanding is the obstacle course that law enforcement, government, and communities must navigate to address sex trafficking.  Simply knowing that the owner's answers to the judge are absurd and false does not constitute proof.  And, fortunately, our nation is a nation of laws. People are not supposed to be convicted without proof.
And, this creates a setting where trafficking can happen and continue to happen because sufficient evidence can't be found to prove that the law is being broken.

This was the work of BJM today.  Lisa and Lindsay attended this public hearing.  The rest of us prayed.  Two of the interns spent the afternoon as they spend many others - gathering information about every spa, massage parlor, and bath house in the Tenderloin.  Investing work and prayer toward a day when they are gone. Closed. And grocery stores, book shops, dry cleaners, day care centers, non-profits and restaurants bring life to every storefront that now is used for selling human beings.