Central Illinois prosecutors & advocates raise human trafficking awareness – Wand TV

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, Greg Harris, says human trafficking is a $150-billion dollar business worldwide.

But it's not just a big city problem, its happening right here in central Illinois.

“It's not just the big city, it's the small towns, it's the rural areas. It's really everywhere, it's systemic. If you have access to the internet- you have access to be exploited,” Jade Cothern, a team member with the Set Free Movement, told WAND News.

Cothern said the problem is more widespread than most people realize.

“Nationwide, what's been reported for 2021 is 10,000 [victims trafficked] which is not realistic. We know those numbers are much higher. Those numbers could potentially be what's happening in our state,” Cothern explained.

Dr. Laura Dean studies the issue with Millikin's Human Trafficking Research Lab.

“Labor trafficking, which again is prevalent for our region, I think because we have a lot of farms here. So we have a lot of farm workers that come in from other countries that could potentially be exploited,” Dr. Dean said.

She told WAND News victims may be invisible to most, but are often found through other criminal organizations.

“We see a lot of trafficking linked to drugs. So the police will go in and investigate drugs and will actually find human trafficking,” Dr. Dean said.

She said Decatur has been hit with a particular form of human trafficking in recent years.

“Something that's prevalent in Decatur is begging. So we've had a bunch of arrests for people who are doing forced begging,” she explained.

Advocates said part of the problem is education, since many victims don't realize they're actually being trafficked.

“It never fails, we can have a presentation and at least one person will come up and be like ‘this either happened to me' or ‘I know someone that this potentially is happening to. What do I do?',” Cothern explained.

U.S. Attorney Harris helped start the Central Illinois Human Trafficking Task Force to put more traffickers behind bars and get victims the help they need.

“We're starting to get the word out that this is something that we will help you with and we will prosecute,” Attorney Harris explained.

The Set Free Movement said while people of all ages can be trafficked, parents can take steps to protect their children. They recommend monitoring kids' electronic devices like laptops, phones and tablets. Parents should review devices daily and keep them out of their kids' bedrooms at night. They should also discuss the dangers of predators with children.

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