Title
To recognize and commend the Central Ohio Rescue and Restore Coalition for their efforts to raise awareness about the crime of human trafficking.
Body
WHEREAS, a form of modern day slavery, human trafficking is the commercial exploitation of people. Victims of human trafficking are subjected to force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation in commercial sex or forced labor; and
WHEREAS, human trafficking is the fastest growing international criminal industry, second only to drug dealing; and
WHEREAS, in 2000, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, making human trafficking a federal crime and defining two categories, labor and sex; and
WHEREAS, labor trafficking victims are exploited in settings such as agricultural, restaurant, janitorial or domestic work and sex trafficking victims are exploited in activities such as prostitution, stripping or pornography; and
WHEREAS, each year, over 14,000 individuals are trafficked into the United States from other countries with 80 percent being women and 50 percent being minors; and
WHEREAS, US citizens, including minors, are also victimized by human trafficking. Each day over 2 million youth are living on the street and 90 percent of homeless youth are lured into the commercial sex industry by age 11; and
WHEREAS, the Ohio Attorney General Trafficking in Persons Study Commission, Research and Analysis Sub-Committee estimates that over 6,000 individuals are at risk of human trafficking and over 1,800 are believed to be trafficked into the sex or labor trade in Ohio; and
WHEREAS, the mission of the coalition is to end human trafficking through public awareness, service to trafficked persons, advocacy, and resource and training support to law enforcement; and
WHEREAS, the Central Ohio Rescue and Restore Coalition has identified and assisted 58 victims of trafficking since 2008; and
WHEREAS, the Central Ohio Rescue and Restore Coaliti...
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