FREMONT -- A group of seniors at the Tech Center are bringing more awareness to the problem of human trafficking by doing their senior project on the topic.
Taylor Henline, Tiffany Meade and Abbey Guggisberg started their project in the fall and will be competing in SkillsUSA at the local level early next year.
SkillsUSA has many different branches students can compete in, and the branch they're competing in is community service. Each branch has different levels. In the community service branch, the students will start at the local level and compete with other projects from the Tech center. If they win locally, they go onto state in Columbus.
"We found a facility in Toledo called Second Chance that deals with girls and women who have been victimized by sex trafficking and sexual exploitation,"Guggisberg said.
They have decided to help out by having items donated to them such as food for the pantry; clothing for women and girls; office supplies including pens, paper and staples; and personal hygiene items including lip balm, and small and medium sized new under garments, towels and blankets.
Meade said a group member had watched a program on TV about human trafficking, and they thought they could bring more awareness to the topic.
The girls are in the criminal justice program.
"We found out Toledo is No. 4 in the country for trafficking," Meade said, noting the most shocking thing is that family members often sell their own children, and that it's not just girls who don't care about themselves that get caught up in it.
Meade said she has been making bracelets with the letters NFS on them, which stands for Not For Sale.
"Human trafficking isn't just a girl thing," she said, noting they're giving them out to boys and girls.
They also made T-shirts with NFS and the saying, "Stop human trafficking."
Donated items will be accepted at the Tech Center until the third week of January.
Earlier this month, the state Senate voted 32-0 to make human trafficking a stand-alone, second-degree felony, punishable by up to eight years in prison. The bill then went on to the House of Representatives.
According to Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray's website, the bill became a law that makes human trafficking a second degree felony. Senate Bill 235 was signed into law Thursday by Gov. Ted Strickland.
In addition to making human trafficking a second degree felony, the law aligns Ohio's human trafficking laws with those of the federal government (Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act, 2000) and 44 other states, defines human trafficking, and increases the penalty for compelling a minor to engage in sexual activity for hire (first degree felony if victim is younger than 16).
The new law takes effect in March. The legislation also clarifies and strengthens penalties for kidnapping, abduction and other related offenses.
Ohio was among a handful of states without a stand-alone human traffickSource: thenews-messenger.com
Project aims to bring awareness to human trafficking | thenews-messenger.com | The News-Messenger
