Our legal system abandons trafficking victims across the country

Report after report show lack of real progress fighting this issue

You don’t need to spend much time reading – the headlines tell the problem.

According to reporting by By Sarah Whites-Koditschek | swhites-koditschek@al.com,

“No criminal human trafficking cases were filed in federal court in Alabama last year, no defendants were convicted and there were no defendants charged with sex trafficking, according to the report, which tracked federal court records.”

Ariel Salk, Stacie Richard of WGNO write:

“There is trafficking happening everywhere, forced labor and sex trafficking, so when you see low case numbers, it almost certainly doesn’t mean that there is no trafficking happening, it just means more needs to be done to investigate it and prosecute it, to find those victims,” said Alyssa Wheeler, associate legal counsel at the Human Trafficking Institute.

What it tracked was almost nothing. Jennifer Solis of the Nevada Current writes:

“According to the Nevada state report from the Human Trafficking Institute, four new cases were filed in federal court last year, but none of those defendants were convicted as of last year.”

Sage Van Wing (OPB) states:

“Of the arrests made by the Portland Police Bureau’s human trafficking unit, 85% result in only a solicitation charge. That’s according to a new investigation by reporter Karina Brown in an article published by Willamette Week. Brown wrote about how these arrests may be reducing the safety of sex workers, rather than actually reducing human trafficking.”

What’s the problem? Do police and detectives just not understand the difference between prostitution and trafficking? Do they just not care?

Four articles = four pathetic efforts by law enforcement. Fortunately, next week, I’ll share a story I’m proud to report from my home state of Ohio. Something positive to offset these pathetic reports.