Sacramento is one of the top five cities in the nation that serves as a hot spot for human trafficking. The ladies of Kappa Psi Epsilon invited the executive director and founder of Bridget’s Dream, Leah Albright-Byrd, to their fifth annual “PRICELESS” Benefit Concert on April 7 in the University Union Ballroom.

The benefit concert had Yaw-Yan self-defense demonstrations, spoken word and step-dancing. Yaw-Yan is considered the Philippines’ most lethal martial art and is short for “Sayaw ng Kamatayan,” meaning “Dance of Death.”

The event was hosted by Kappa Psi Epsilon’s junior biology major Jade Tamondong and senior criminal justice major Kimmy Santarina.

Tamondong and Santarina said their organization is built on empowering women, and as Kappas they want to be the voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Not far from campus, Watt Avenue has a mix of exploited youth between the ages of 14 and 20.

The benefit concert’s keynote speaker, Leah Albright-Byrd, was exploited at the age of 14. After running away three times, she fell in love with a drug dealer, who would become her pimp and change her life.

She went through four years of sex trafficking and traveled as far as Nevada for customers. When a classmate from Sacramento City College invited her to church, she decided to escape the lifestyle at 18 years old.

“A girl who has been prostituted by a pimp in our city has psychological impact that is the same as a person who was enslaved in our country years and years ago,” Albright-Byrd said. “That’s how serious this crime is. You don’t want that to happen in our community.”

When she was 15 years old, she recruited her cousin’s girlfriend, Bridget Gray, into the sex-trafficking business. Gray tried to leave the lifestyle, but was unsuccessful in doing so.

On Gray’s 22nd birthday, she met with a sex buyer in a room at the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas. He ended up murdering her and leaving her body at the casino.

“The beautiful thing is that whenever there is a significant tragedy, there’s always an opportunity for beauty… In the face of difficulty, I started looking at what happened to Bridget and I thought I don’t want that to ever happen again,” Albright-Byrd said.

Albright-Byrd started Bridget’s Dream in memory of her friend. It is Sacramento’s only survivor-led nonprofit organization, which was founded in 2011. Forty percent of all donations go directly to the victims.

The organization provides victim support, rehabilitation, advocacy and community education/awareness.

The night concluded with spoken word by UC Davis’ multicultural center staff member Fong Tran, who has shared his poetry at the event three times.

“It’s important to not blame the victim … I think males especially should own up and be accountable for the effects of the language we use when we refer to our female counterparts as the ‘B’ word,” Tran said.

If someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, it is important to be supportive and refer them to the national human trafficking hotline at 1(888) 373-7888.

For more information on how to volunteer or intern at Bridget’s Dream, contact [email protected].