· April 13th at 7:00 pm, at Mendocino College Little Theatre in Ukiah, 1000 Hensley Creek Rd.

· April 15th at 7:00 pm, at the Willits High School Auditorium in Willits, 299 N Main St.

A play focused on increasing awareness and education on sex trafficking. Recently formed, Mendocino County Community Against Human Trafficking, plans to offer various ways in which to educate our community to increase awareness of this issue. We welcome you to attend either of these dates and should you wish to write an article our Chair, Lydia Villegas, and other committee members will gladly take time for interviews.

JANE DOE IN WONDERLAND is a new play and survivor talk back raising awareness and education on sex trafficking, written through the collaboration of anti-sex trafficking non-profit organization Game Over, founded by survivor/educator Elle Snow, and MFA playwrights Grace Booth, Kate Tobie, and Erin Johnston. Based on multiple sex trafficking survivors’ testimonials and Elle’s educational training, Jane Doe in Wonderland draws parallels between the well-known story of Alice In Wonderland and how young women and men are lured into the world of sex trafficking—a world that exists in our own backyards.

Jane Doe is specifically written to be accessible for a high school audience, parents and community members, written in a manner that is neither violent nor explicit. Jane Doe follows the most common case: that of a ‘Romeo Pimp’ targeting a rural high school girl by pretending to be her boyfriend before bringing her to an unfamiliar city and trafficking her. In addition to addressing the common ‘red flags’ of this type of trafficker, the play specifically addresses the most commonly asked question, “why don’t victims run?” When people understand the tactics a trafficker employs, their conception of ‘prostitution’ is turned upside-down. When teenagers understand what a ‘pimp’ is, their likelihood of being trafficked drastically diminishes.

Our hope is that by raising awareness amongst and educating the community we can prevent any more of our youth from becoming victims.

Sponsored by MCOE Homeless & Foster Youth Services Program, The Community Foundation of Mendocino County, Ukiah Saturday Afternoon Club Endowment Fund, Redwood Community Services, and the Mendocino College Foster & Kinship Care Education Program, Jane Doe in Wonderland will be presented in Ukiah and Willits:

Through generous sponsorship these events will be FREE. Doors open at 6:30.

Ticket reservations are at https://janedoeinwonderland-ukiah.eventbrite.com and https://janedoeinwonderland-willits.eventbrite.com. Every hour long performance of Jane Doe is followed by a survivor talk back, in which audience members can ask questions and learn directly from a survivor’s experience. The show is appropriate for teenagers 14+.

This event is made possible through the support of sponsors and Mendocino County Against Human Trafficking, a coalition of representatives from local agencies working collaboratively to raise awareness about sex-trafficking in Mendocino County. These agencies include MCOE Homeless and Foster Youth Services Program, Mendocino College Foster and Kinship Care Education Program, Redwood Community Services, Tapestry Family Services, Redwood Coast Regional Center, ARC Family Resource Center, Project Sanctuary, Greater Ukiah Chamber of Commerce, Ukiah Unified School District, Ukiah United Methodist Church, South Ukiah Rotary, Willits Rotary and the Mendocino County Law Enforcement Executive Office.

If you would like to know more or are interested in how you can help support this and future projects, please email lydia@mendochildren.org