There were more than 200 people identified as potential human trafficking victims in Ohio last year – nearly all of them female, and more than a quarter of them under 18. Statehouse correspondent Karen Kasler has more on the latest report from the state’s task force on human trafficking.
The number of potential victims is up slightly over last year’s report.
But the state’s human trafficking coordinator, Elizabeth Ranade-Janis, says there’s a detail that explains that.
“It absolutely is the case that increased awareness yields more people being helped.”
Ranade-Janis says it’s estimated more than a thousand kids are being trafficked in Ohio at any time.
There were more than 100 investigations in the last year – a third resulted in criminal convictions.
Most of these were suspected sex trafficking cases, but six victims were thought to be victims of labor trafficking.