Fighting Human Trafficking
November brought some relief to the nation and the world with our new President Elect, Joe Biden. Hopefully this will help to bring an end to the bigotry, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia and blatant racism that has reached new heights over the last four years. America now has a chance to rebuild and unite.
At the same times, we continue the fight against human trafficking. We need to recognize that trafficking aligns with racial injustice. All the systemic discrimination related to homelessness, mass incarceration, the lack of equal access to jobs, health care and education that Black and brown communities, as well as immigrant communities, face means that they are also disproportionately victimized by trafficking. And that makes them more likely to be arrested and potentially abused by police. They are often treated as criminals instead of being offered community services.
As the second largest illegal activity in the world, the fight against human trafficking deserves more attention. At the end of this post, you will see the 51 places in the US where it was reported just in November 2020.
There were 530 individuals arrested, suspected, or charged with human trafficking activities in the United States in October as well as 68 victims removed from entrapped trafficking, including 65 who were minors. There was one new law passed and 35 community initiatives that took place.
Internationally in October, there were 37 individuals arrested, suspected, or charged with human trafficking activity, as well as 23 victims removed from being entrapped in trafficking, including 4 under the age of 18. There were eight new community initiatives.
What can you do? Learn more about the issue by reading. Volunteer for a local anti-human trafficking organization. Donate resources if you can. Most importantly, if you know someone who is a victim or see a suspicious incident that may involve someone being trafficked, call the
National Human Trafficking Hotline
1-888-373-7888.
Below, I have listed the 51 U.S. cities where human trafficking was reported or addressed in a community initiative in November 2020:
Albany, Georgia
Anaheim, California
Atlanta, Georgia
Blue Ash, Ohio
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Cincinnati, Florida
Cincinnati, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
D’Iberville, Mississippi
Dayton, Ohio
Durham, North Carolina
East Hartford, Connecticut
Flomaton, Alabama
Fort Worth, Texas
Gilroy, California
Grand Island, Nebraska
Greenville, South Carolina
Grenville, Texas
Hoover, Alabama
Huntington, West Virginia
Independence, Ohio
Lakeland, Florida
Las Vegas, Nevada
Lafayette, Indiana
Lincoln, Nebraska
Long Beach, California
McEnery, Illinois
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Odessa, Florida
Oxford, Mississippi
Ozark, Alabama
Palm Springs, California
Patterson, California
Pomona, California
Portland, Oregon
Portsmouth, Ohio
Reno, Nevada
Richmond, Virginia
Ripley, Mississippi
Roanoke, Virginia
Sacramento, California
San Francisco, California
San Jose, California
San Marcos, Texas
SLO County, Florida
Tallahassee, Florida
Trenton, New Jersey
Urbana, Illinois
Visalia, California
Woodstock, Illinois
Youngstown, Ohio
