Human trafficking is a subject many people might not have heard about or are uncomfortable discussing.
Gov. John Kasich brought the issue to light Tuesday during his State of the State speech when he said putting a stop to human trafficking in Ohio is a priority.
“You know we got a war on drugs? We’ve got to have a war on the slave trade business in Ohio,” Kasich said.
The governor said there are 1,000 Ohio children, whose average age is 13, in the slave trade business.
Adults use manipulation, blackmail to force younger people into prostitution, slave labor or worse, the governor said.
“Could you imagine somebody snatching your daughter and somebody forcing them into prostitution at 13 and 14 years of age?” Kasich said.
The state has started work on the issue with Senate Bill 235 that passed in December 2010 and a new measure, House Bill 262, introduced by state Rep. Teresa Fedor, D-Toledo.
S.B. 235 in part, defined “trafficking in persons,” but the governor said more needs to be done.
To further highlight the issue, Kasich presented a human trafficking survivor with one of his three Governor Courage Awards.
“She was exploited, blackmailed, trapped in a hell of abuse that she could not escape. There wasn’t anybody to help her. No support. No one to help her get free. Can you imagine that?” Kasich said.
The woman now is a licensed social worker, who helps to liberate other women trapped by human trafficking, the governor said.
Geauga County Probate and Juvenile Court Judge Tim Grendell was a state senator who cosponsored S.B. 235 prior to serving on the bench.
“I do believe we have a problem with human trafficking in Ohio,” Grendell said. “It’s an offense that stays in the shadows.”
He said trafficking takes on many forms, not just prostitution. Others can be forced to do labor perhaps because they are in situations where if they speak out or talk with authorities they can get into legal trouble.
The Imagine Foundation is nonprofit organization based in Cleveland that battles the issue in Northeast Ohio and the world.
Jessie Bach, the agency’s executive director, was pleased Kasich spoke about the issue.
“One of the biggest things is awareness and education,” he said. “We need to teach our kids about the real dangers of Internet predators, sex predators and selling dates.”
Many children are targeted online by a pimp or trafficker who looks for signs of neediness or posting that no one listens to them.
After they meet with that person sometimes they have consensual sexual relations and at that point things go wrong.
“If you think your family will be killed, you will do anything to keep them safe,” Bach said.
Lake County Juvenile Court Judge Karen Lawson said she believes human trafficking happens locally especially because she sees girls who are involved in prostitution and have drug problems or perhaps they have run away from home.
“If we can educate parents and get into the schools and educate the teachers and priests and the gamut of society that deals with children,” she said. “If there are 1,000 kids in Ohio that are in human trafficking that’s too many.”
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