Anybody who suspects a human trafficking case in Louisiana can now report it by way of the identical statewide hotline that receives experiences of kid abuse and neglect.
The state launched the brand new hotline, 1-855-452-5437, this month after the Louisiana Legislature permitted its creation final yr and permitted a number of new positions on the Louisiana Division of Kids and Household Providers to deal with human trafficking calls. The state recognized practically 1,000 victims of confirmed and suspected human trafficking final yr, in accordance with the state’s Workplace of Human Trafficking Prevention.
The overwhelming majority of individuals the state tracked had been intercourse trafficking victims. Most of these had been kids: 86% of intercourse trafficking victims recognized in Louisiana had been beneath 17.
“The evil of trafficking creates victims of youngsters in all places — even proper right here in Louisiana,” mentioned state Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, who spearheaded final yr’s human trafficking laws.
The state DCFS hotline will ahead all human trafficking experiences to Louisiana State Police for investigation. State Police Superintendent Colonel Lamar Davis described the hotline as a strategy to create “an much more direct hyperlink of communication with residents that may help us in rescuing these affected.”
DCFS may even examine human trafficking complaints after they contain dad and mom and caretakers.
State auditors present in 2020 that Louisiana lacked placement choices and sources for human trafficking victims. In addition they discovered that the state might enhance its information assortment efforts and make different efforts to assist victims.
Louisiana’s human trafficking victims final yr had been predominantly ladies and ladies: 89% had been feminine, state information present. Trafficking final yr affected individuals of all races, with the state figuring out that 47% of victims had been White, 41% had been Black and 5% had been multiracial.
Over the previous 5 years, the state has discovered the best proportion of trafficking in Orleans Parish, with 27% of experiences made there. Caddo had 15% of experiences and East Baton Rouge had 13%, information present.
“It is essential for the general public to know that human trafficking remains to be the quickest rising and second largest felony business in the US and is a significant issue throughout Louisiana and throughout all backgrounds,” mentioned Gov. John Bel Edwards in a information launch.