PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and the latest data shows a growing number of trafficking offenses have been filed in Pennsylvania in recent years.
Human trafficking is a form of human rights abuse where people profit from the exploitation of others – mainly by force, fraud or coercion. Vulnerable individuals are manipulated into slave labor or the sex trade.
“It's happening in Philadelphia, happening in suburban Pennsylvania. It's happening in rural Pennsylvania. It's happening every day,” said Shea Rhodes, co-founder and director of the Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation at Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law.
She said victims can truly be anyone with a vulnerability, including “women, girls, those in the LGBTQ spectrum, those in poverty, without a lot of education, [or with a] substance use disorder, someone who is vulnerable in childhood, who has been a victim of child sex abuse.”
According to the last five years of recorded data from the commonwealth, 1,096 human-trafficking offenses were filed statewide from 2017-2021.
Pennsylvania court data shows the yearly total human trafficking offenses filed in the state rose each year from 2018 to 2021. Pennsylvania only had 51 offenses filed in 2018, but had 303 cases in 2021, the last year of reported data.
Related
Rhodes says people often look for a mysterious white van full of people, but that’s not always how human trafficking presents itself.
“If you're in a hotel, for instance in Philadelphia, and you happen to be a patron in the hotel, and you see a lot of men coming and going from a room and not staying very long, or young girls, or young women who seem to be probably under some kind of substance use disorder, not necessarily dressed appropriately [and] may not know even what city they're in,” said Rhodes.
She said victims are often not in control of their own money, can’t clearly indicate where they live, and are otherwise withdrawn. There’s also a domestic violence component as well.
Related
Rhodes said the internet is the new street corner, and kids can easily be trafficked via social media, chat apps and even video games.
“A takeaway for parents is, I always say to the kids in my life, ‘Hey, if you don't know someone in real human person life, don't be friends with them on the internet, because you don't know who they really are,'" said Rhodes. "And I say to parents, ‘Have conversations with your kids. Make them aware.’”
Bottom line, Rhodes says if you suspect something, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888. Pennsylvania also offers its own statewide tip line at 1-888-292-1919, as well as a tip email address or the See Something, Send Something phone app.