January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month – Newberry Observer

January is recognized as slavery and national human trafficking awareness month. Despite the emphasis on national awareness and that slavery was officially abolished in 1865, via the passage of the 13th Amendment, many Americans are often unaware of what it is and are shocked to find that human trafficking, also known as modern-day slavery, is happening in the United States and globally. It is estimated to be a billion-dollar industry annually.

Human trafficking exists in two forms: labor or sex. The trafficker engages in the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex acts. U.S. law determines victims of human trafficking to be divided into three populations: Children under age 18 induced into commercial sex; adults aged 18 or over induced into commercial sex; or children and adults induced to perform labor or services. Victims can be men or women; adults or children; foreign nationals or U.S. citizens; come from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds; and have varied levels of education. They are often lured by false promises of a job, stability, education or love.

National statistics on the severity of the problem are difficult to enumerate as cases of human trafficking often go underreported or unreported. The U.S. Department of State's 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report notes that in Fiscal Year 2021, the Department of Homeland Security conducted 1,111 human trafficking investigations; the Department of Justice formally opened 603 investigations; and the Department of Defense conducted 108 such investigations. These statistics do not include state human trafficking investigations or account for the number of victims impacted.

In 2019, South Carolina enacted SC Code § 16-3-2050 establishing an interagency task force to combat human trafficking which must release an annual report. The South Carolina attorney general recently reported 124 cases of human trafficking in 2022 in the following counties: Charleston, Greenville, Richland, Horry and Spartanburg. Incidences of exploitation are most often found in domestic service, tourist, agricultural and entertainment industries due to transient laborers. The existence of interstate corridors, ports and transportation stations and airports contribute to the problem as they allow for movement of persons undetected.

The most important thing you can do to combat human trafficking is if you see something, say something. The National Hotline to report suspected trafficking is 1-888-373-7888. Next, it is important to become a conscious consumer to combat labor trafficking by purchasing used goods or goods with ethically sourced or fair-trade labels. Ethically sourced or fair-trade labeled goods ensure that child or forced labor was not used in production.

To learn about goods that use child or forced labor see the U.S. Department of Labor's ILAB list of goods at, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods. If you are a parent or grandparent, monitor your child or grandchild's online activities as traffickers often lure young people into trafficking via online communications.

Professor Haynes Eshleman joined Newberry College in 2018 after a distinguished legal career in both the private and public sector. Haynes Eshleman is a three time recipient of the Top Lawyer Main Line Today award. She is also an advocacy award recipient from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) of Philadelphia for her legal work. She was a frequent lecturer with the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and various county bar associations. Her areas of research interest include intimate partner violence (IPV), human trafficking, child abuse, animal cruelty, juvenile justice, Immigration, and due process.