BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – Jennifer and Clark Jensen are fighting a war against the sex trafficking of minors.

They have fought the fight as missionaries in India and Nepal, and today they are fighting the fight in Bakersfield through their nonprofit, Global Family Care Network, which has offices in nine countries.

Jennifer is the executive director of the Daughter Project, a ministry of the Global Family Care Network dedicated to helping girls between the ages of 12 and 17 recover from sexual exploitation.

See her lightly edited, 15-minute interview with KGET in the video player above.

The Daughter Project operates a safe house group home near downtown Bakersfield that typically serves 10 girls at a time. Girls from throughout California, usually assigned to Bakersfield by court order, typically stay one school year at the group home, which opened in 2017. 

It is not a lockdown facility, and residents’ desire to run away is one of the Daughter Project’s ongoing challenges. Another is the the group home’s proximity to less desirable sections of Union Avenue, including a vice-riddled stretch known as the Blade.

Jennifer Jensen told KGET that Bakersfield residents need to understand that sex trafficking is not something that takes place only in eastern Europe or the far-flung corners of Asia.

“It’s so important for the community to be aware that these things are happening, that it is our children, and families are at risk,” she said. “It really is important to become at least a little bit aware. Be informed and do something about it.”

The Daughter Project is currently finalizing work on a new group home on two semi-rural acres 30 miles outside of the city center. The Daughter Project is not disclosing the exact location of the safe house. Jensen said she hopes to move the girls home and its residents from the current location to the new facility in December.

If you would like to help the Daughter Project continue its mission – steering teen girls away from human trafficking and the destructive sex trade – in a new and better environment – call 661-213-3380 or visit globalfamily.care. Funding for the nonprofit’s new, larger facility 30 miles outside the city is especially welcome.