By The Plain Dealer‘s Paris Wolfe – Human trafficking is not a TV drama where a teenager is kidnapped into a windowless white van, chained in a basement and sold into prostitution. It’s usually more subtle and insidious.
For example, it could be a boyfriend selling a girlfriend’s sexual services to his friends. Or it might be a runaway helped by an adult who turns around and sells their sexual or labor services. It might even be a family member selling a young person’s services.
According to a federal National Human Trafficking Prevention Framework report, human trafficking is “the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel someone to perform labor or a commercial sex act.”
It’s icky to think about, but without attention it will grow quietly in our region and country.
The International Labor Organization estimates 27.6 million people globally experienced forced labor and/or commercial sexual exploitation on any given day in 2021. And those numbers inched up from 2016.
To fund the fight against trafficking in Cuyahoga County, the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking is holding its Annual Benefit from 5 to 8 p.m., Thursday, September 19 at Windows on the River in Cleveland. To read the complete story, visit cleveland.com.
Last modified: September 11, 2024