Strickland signs Fedor's human trafficking bill into law - WTOL.com - Toledo's News Leader |

Updated: Dec 23, 2010 3:25 PM EST

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COLUMBUS, OH (WTOL) - Governor Ted Strickland has signed a bill into law Thursday to make human trafficking a stand-alone felony in the second degree.

Senate Bill 235 is Senator Teresa Fedor's (D) final piece of legislation in her two terms as Ohio's 11th District State Senator and is a result of five years of work.

"Human trafficking is thriving in Ohio and today we begin to stop modern-day slavery," said Fedor.

Fedor says Ohio is no longer a safe haven for trafficking and that the gap between the state's criminal code and the reality of human trafficking has been closed.

According to a 2009 Trafficking in Persons Study Commission Report, there are nearly 6,000 youths at risk of being trafficking in Ohio every year.

The practice is present in rural, suburban and urban areas and Ohio is a transit and destination for victims.

Human trafficking is currently the second largest criminal enterprise bringing in an estimated $36 billion a year worldwide for its operators.

However, the crime is largely hidden and difficult for law enforcement to detect as victims are often moved from location to location.

Fedor said the bill sends a message to traffickers that they will face serious charges for exploiting citizens and that Ohio will no longer target victims and ignore those who engage in and finance trafficking.

"To Ohio victims who feel trapped: the circumstance you find yourself in is not your fault," said Fedor. "With the passage of this bill, Ohio is now a place where help is available."

Ohio now joins 44 other states to have a stand-alone felony in compliance with the federal Trafficking in Victims Protection Act (TVPA).

Source: WTOL
Strickland signs Fedor's human trafficking bill into law - WTOL.com - Toledo's News Leader |

Oakland taking steps to fight sex trafficking

Sunday, April 4, 2010


(04-04) 14:03 PDT Oakland, Calif. (AP) --

Oakland officials and community leaders are taking steps to fight sex trafficking in the city.
Members of the Victory Outreach Church of Oakland gathered Friday night in front of Oakland City Hall to increase awareness of sex trafficking and child exploitation in Oakland.

Volunteers from the church take to the streets on weekly basis to try to reach women and girls working as prostitutes. On any given night they meet more than a dozen teens and young women working as prostitutes,
according to church members.

"We're just letting them know there's a destiny for their life," said Sylvia Vigil, wife of the church's pastor. "Basically they're all victims," she said.

The gathering took place after an Oakland man was convicted earlier in the day of kidnapping two teenage prostitutes and making them work for him.

Prosecutors said Vincent Turner was facing the possibility of life in prison after being convicted of kidnapping, human trafficking and rape Friday.

"To have a jury come back today with that verdict ... shows that we have turned a corner," Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said Friday outside City Hall.

Turner's case is one of the 140 that have been prosecuted in Alameda County since mid-2006, according to
 
O'Malley. Of those, 110 resulted in felony convictions. All involved minors and multiple victims.

Turner, 31, is due to be sentenced June 25.

Oakland taking steps to fight sex trafficking