United states senate

In this picture T, Melody, and Jamerson stand on Capital Hill after a screening of California's Forgotten Children documentary at the United States Senate

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On July 26th at 5:30pm my feature documentary California's Forgotten Children screened at the United States Senate in order to educate the government staff on the issue of child sex trafficking and encouraging policymakers in creating and implementing laws and policies to combat trafficking. ​

​ I am so grateful to the Harris Office, Senate Rules Committee, and Sharan Dhanoa (Director of Strategic Development South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking.)

We were joined by activist Ambassador Withelma "T" Ortiz Walker Pettegrew. She has previously testified in front of The U.S. Congress with her story and has spoken at the The United Nations, Google, The White House, The American Bar Association, The Aspen Institute, and The Johns Hopkins Institution.

 T is a leading force in advocating for the civil and social rights of all people, with a previous expertise in highlighting the intersectionality between the child welfare system and human trafficking. In 2014, T was named one of TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the world”, and a GLAMOUR Magazine “Woman of the Year” in 2011. ​

​We were also joined by Jamerson Christopher Sean Watson. For the past 20 years, Jamerson has worked to address men’s roles in ending violence against women and girls.  He’s worked with various human rights organizations, rape crisis centers, abuser intervention programs, and  other advocacy groups.  He began his work as a Sexual Assault Prevention Educator with the Hays-Caldwell Women’s Center in San Marcos, TX.