Human trafficking is the second largest illegal enterprise in the world, followed by illegal drug sales. The United Nations’ International Labor Organization in 2005 estimated that 12.3 million people around the world are involved in forced labor, bonded labor, forced child labor and sexual servitude.
The Ohio Trafficking in Persons Study Commission concluded that, due to the very nature of human trafficking, it is virtually impossible to determine the exact number of victims in Ohio at any given time; however, the commission has identified 1,800 victims of human trafficking within our state. In total, Ohio is home to an estimated 6,316 at-risk individuals — 3,437 foreign-born and 2,879 American-born — mostly women.
Toledo, which has been called by one federal investigator “the number one teen prostitution location in America,” is home to 1,000 victims of sex trafficking. These victims are almost exclusively American-born girls and shockingly range from 12 to 17 years in age. In the Columbus area, 800 victims (mostly foreign-born women) of labor trafficking have been identified.
As shocking as some of these facts and figures might be, a report on the subject by the Rand Corp. says that human trafficking incidents are significantly underreported.
Ohio’s involvement in the human trafficking industry is fostered by several factors:
• Our proximity to the Canadian border makes it possible for victims to be moved through Michigan and be trafficked in various venues throughout the country.
• A growing pool of legal and illegal immigrant populations from which to draw victims.
• Industries that demand and employ cheap labor.
• Our highway system (Interstate 71 and Interstate 75) makes transporting individuals from one end of the state to the other easy.
• Economic and familial conditions.
Toledo and Columbus are not the only cities that have problems with human trafficking. All the major cities in Ohio are experiencing this injustice.
In 2000, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act was passed by Congress to address both the domestic and international victims of labor and sex trafficking on U.S. soil. The purpose of the new law was to enhance the government’s capacity to provide protection, prevention and prosecution involving the crime of human trafficking.
While action has been taken on the federal level, Ohio needs to take steps to address the growing problem here. Ohio’s Attorney General has proposed the following:
• Make human trafficking a second-degree felony.
• Modify existing kidnapping, abduction and engaging in prostitution offenses so that these can be more useful in human trafficking prosecutions.
• Increase the penalty for compelling a minor to engage in sexual activity for hire (first-degree felony if victim is under 16; second-degree felony if victim is under 18).
• Define involuntary servitude to include forced labor in human trafficking and increase the penalty for abduction involving involuntary servitude from a third-degree felony to second-degree felony.
There is a need for greater awareness of human trafficking throughout our community. While this issue may seem geographically distant, we read and hear in the media of trafficking issues right here in Butler County that are being addressed by local law enforcement departments.
Many human-trafficking cases have been discovered by a local citizen who saw something that “did not look right” and intervened by helping the victim or calling the police. You can help reduce these cases by doing the same.
State Rep. Tim Derickson, R-Oxford, represents the Ohio House’s 53rd District. Email: District53@ ohr.state.oh.us.