January 23, 2025

“Northern Ohio is not exempt from these dreadful crimes”

[Cleveland, OH] – January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a time to shed light and raise awareness in our communities about a prevalent crime that violates the most basic of human rights – freedom.

Human trafficking is the illegal exploitation of a person. Anyone can be a victim of human trafficking, and it can occur in any U.S. community—cities, suburbs, and even rural areas. 

Human trafficking is the exploitation of human beings for profit. Whether it’s domestic servitude, forced labor, or sex trafficking of children and adults, it is a borderless crime without regard to who, what, or where the victims come from. 

·         As of July 15, 2024, the FBI has more than 1,660 pending human trafficking investigations, with cases in each of the FBI’s 56 field offices.
Over 93 percent of the FBI’s human-trafficking cases involved sex trafficking, with labor-trafficking investigations accounting for over six percent.

o   These numbers may be misleading. Labor trafficking is traditionally harder to detect because the underlying labor—such as work performed in hair and nail salons, in restaurants, and by sanitation companies—is normally not illegal.

·         In Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, the FBI initiated 664 human trafficking cases and conducted 145 federal arrests associated with human trafficking cases.

·         Of the 145 federal arrests, 85 were for federal human trafficking crimes (e.g., violations of 18 U.S.C. § 1591 [sex trafficking of children] or § 1594 [conspiracy to sex traffic children]), and 60 were for other federal non-trafficking charges (e.g., 18 U.S.C. § 2422 [coercion and enticement of a minor] or § 2423(a) [transportation of minors], or a variety of other federal criminal violations, such as 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) [felon in possession of a weapon]).

·         The FBI investigates all forms of human trafficking, regardless of the victim’s age or nationality.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Greg Nelsen

“Human trafficking is happening across the United States and worldwide, robbing victims of a peaceful life while degrading their existence to a world of dependence. Northern Ohio is not exempt from these dreadful crimes.”

The FBI works human trafficking cases under its Crimes Against Children and Human Trafficking program. Here in the United States, both U.S. residents and foreign nationals are being bought and sold like modern-day slaves. Traffickers use violence, manipulation, or false promises of well-paying jobs or romantic relationships to exploit victims. Victims are forced to work as prostitutes or to take jobs as migrant, domestic, restaurant, or factory workers with little or no pay. Human trafficking is a heinous crime that exploits the most vulnerable in society.

Nelsen added-

“The FBI is laser-focused on finding and identifying the perpetrators associated with human trafficking organizations and stands lockstep with its federal, state, and local partners to not only ensure the safe recovery of survivors, but also collaborate with trauma-informed service providers to protect survivors and connect them with the resources and support that they need and deserve,” Nelsen added.

Under the human trafficking program, the FBI investigates:

• Sex trafficking: When individuals are compelled by force, fraud, or coercion to engage in commercial sex acts. Sex trafficking of a minor occurs when the victim is under the age of 18. For cases involving minors, it is not necessary to prove force, fraud, or coercion.
• Labor trafficking: When individuals are compelled by force, threats, or fraud to perform labor or service.
• Domestic servitude: When individuals within a household appear to be nannies, housekeepers, or other types of domestic workers, but they are being controlled and exploited.

Indicators of Human Trafficking   

·         Individuals may be victims of human trafficking if:

o   They work in the same place they live.

o   They have poor living conditions.

o   They let someone else speak for them or appear to be coached on what to say.

o   They are not in possession of their own travel, immigration, or personal documents.

o   There are locks on the outside of doors where they live, rather than inside.

o   They have increasing debt.

o   Their boss takes their pay.

o   They pay their boss for food, clothing, and rent.

o   They are not free to leave.

o   Someone is always watching or guarding them.

o   They are not free to contact family or friends.

o   Their boss threatens them.

o   They are lied to about the work they will be performing.

·         Additional signs of sex trafficking, especially of minors, include:

o   Frequent missing incidents or running away.

o   Signs of sexual or physical abuse.

o   Symptoms of neglect, such as malnourishment.

o   Having unexplained hotel keys, prepaid cards, or items inconsistent with their socioeconomic status.

o   Multiple hotel reservations under one name for an extended period of time with little or no luggage.

o   Frequent absences from school or withdrawing from previously enjoyed activities.

o   Abrupt disconnection from family and friends.

o   Being overly frightened, annoyed, resistant, or belligerent to authority figures.

·         Even if someone seems free to come and go as they please, they may still be a victim of human trafficking: the coercion to remain may be more psychological than physical.

o   One indicator is whether the potential victim feels free to leave the situation.

o   The potential victims may also be overly reliant on someone else for their physical and/or emotional needs.

·         Human-trafficking victims are often subjected to debt bondage, in which traffickers demand labor to repay debt.

o   Traffickers may charge the victims fees for housing, food, transportation, and other needs.

o   They may levy interest and fines for missing daily work quotas.

o   Traffickers may also charge for passage to the United States, then force workers into labor or sex trafficking once they arrive.

o   Debt bondage traps a victim in a cycle of debt that can never be paid down, and it can be part of a larger scheme of psychological coercion.

Report Trafficking & Get Help 

If you are a human trafficking victim or have information about a potential trafficking situation, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) at 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733. NHTRC is a national, toll-free hotline, with specialists available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also submit a tip on the NHTRC website.

If you believe a child is involved in a trafficking situation, submit a tip through the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s CyberTipline or call 1-800-THE-LOST. FBI personnel assigned to NCMEC review information that is provided to the CyberTipline.

Additional information can be found at Fbi.gov/humantrafficking