When you hear the word ‘slavery’ in the United States, most people think back to the 18th & 19th centuries in the early colonial days. There is a new kind of slavery taking place today right here in America, undetected amongst the general population, called human trafficking.
Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery in which traffickers use force, fraud, or coercion to control victims for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or labor services against their will. Sex trafficking has been found in a wide variety of venues within the sex industry, including residential brothels, escort services, fake massage businesses, strip clubs, and street prostitution. Labor trafficking has been found in diverse labor settings including domestic work, small businesses, large farms and factories. Traffickers use violence, threats, blackmail, false promises, deception, manipulation, and debt bondage to trap vulnerable individuals in horrific situations.
Every year, human traffickers generate billions of dollars in profits by victimizing millions of people in the United States and around the world. Traffickers are estimated to exploit 20.9 million victims, with an estimated 1.5 million victims in North America alone. Despite growing awareness about this crime, human trafficking continues to go under reported due to its covert nature, misconceptions about its definition, and a lack of awareness about its indicators.
Although a large amount of Human Trafficking happens primarily in Southern California, the rapidly growing criminal enterprise has made its way to the Ohio region. Each year an estimated 1,078 Ohio children become victims and 3,016 more are at-risk according to humantrafficking.ohio.gov, a website dedicated to providing information and resources about human trafficking to victims and activist who want to help increase education and awareness.
In 2012, Governor Kasich formed The Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force to marshal the state’s resources to provide wraparound services for victims and punish the perpetrators of this horrible crime. The Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force mission is to provide resources and to coordinate efforts to identify and rescue victims, create a coordinated law enforcement system to investigate and prosecute human trafficking crimes, and to provide the services and treatment necessary for victims to regain control of their lives.
Eleven state agencies are members of the task force and have worked to identify service gaps and make recommendations for filling those gaps.
With multiple films created within the past five years about this issue such as Taken, the biggest misconception of Human Trafficking is that it only happens in foreign countries, or to illegal non-citizens.
This criminal enterprise epidemic is taking place locally in neighborhoods and business districts and being advertised over the internet. According to local law enforcement officials, Dayton has become a hub because of its easy access to the I-70-75 corridor to easily transport women who have been forced into the sex trade.
Local law enforcement and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine have been cracking down on the crime. In Ohio, 30 human trafficking investigations yielded seven convictions last year, attributed to more officers being educated and trained on the topic. Officials believe education is the key, especially with law enforcement officers. Newly mandated training will teach them the warning signs of human trafficking, some of which are: someone who does not have control of their own identification, someone who appears to be lost, and someone who appears to be under someone else’s control.
Area victim advocacy groups are a part of the support system for human trafficking education by creating awareness to the public that people don’t choose this life for themselves and are victims in most cases. “It’s so easy to be judgmental,” said Joy Fagan, founder of Safe Harbor House in Springfield.
“Why in the world would they get involved in drugs? Why in the world would they put themselves through that? Why would they choose to be involved in this type of trauma? They’re not choosing that. This is a path that is a result, a consequence of things that have happened to them,” said Fagan. Safe Harbor House is a 24/7 residential and faith based program that empowers women toward healing and equips them with life skills for quality living.
In a recent report by WHIO-TV a victim going by the name “Candace” (no last name to remain anonymous for her protection) spoke out about her horrifying experiences. “I was young and I was naive, and they made it sound glamorous,” said Candace. “Now I know I was brainwashed, I was manipulated, sold for sex, controlled by drugs and paid in drugs.”
- Tue. Nov 5th, 2024