6/16/2011
A group in Utah has declared war on a problem whose impact could very well exceed that of the global narcotics trade. It is the multi-billion dollar human slavery industry.
According to Child Rescue, children are bought and sold for sex every day, not just in developing nations, but also in first world countries. The main mission of Child Rescue is to get rid of the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the United States and Canada.
The group held its inaugural National Human Trafficking Law Enforcement Training symposium in Salt Lake City in Utah. Over 300 law enforcement groups from various places around the world attended the conference and studied different ways on how to recognize the crime.
Human trafficking is a crime that occurs not only in outside the United States, but also happens within the country. Last month, prosecutors filed charges against a woman in Salt Lake County accused of trying to sell the virginity of her 13-year-old daughter.
According to Celeste Lojik of Child Rescue, this is a classic example of sex trafficking. “It’s sad to me because a lot of people, they think sex trafficking doesn’t happen in Utah, doesn’t happen in America. It’s ‘out of sight, out of mind,” said Lojik.
On Salt Lake Police detective Robert Woodbury’s part, he said, We probably hear about a case a week of either sex or labor trafficking: either through a tip or through police reports or through somebody contacting the FBI.”
He added, however, “They stay for three, four or five days and then move on to a different city.”
