Officials: Human trafficking on the rise in NEPA | Times Leader

WILKES-BARRE — Tom Mosca, co-Chair of the NEPA Task Force against Human Trafficking, said Friday's Red Sand Project demonstration on Public Square was held to remind people that human trafficking not only occurs across the country and across the world, but right here in Luzerne County as well.

And, Mosca said, the incidents of human trafficking have been on the rise here.

Mosca said Sunday, July 30, is the United Nations World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

“Human trafficking is modern-day slavery,” Mosca said. “And it's estimated that more than 40 million people around the world are victims of human trafficking.”

Mosca said more than 80% of those victims are female and over 50% are children. He said the majority of adult victims were trafficked as minors and the average age of entry for a minor victim in between 12 and 14.

“Human trafficking is not the same as human smuggling and it doesn't require anyone to be transported across a border, ” Mosca said. “Most human trafficking is for sex and approximately 83% of confirmed sex trafficking victims identified in this country are U.S. citizens.”

Mosca said Friday's Red Sand Project ceremony was held to acknowledge the millions of victims of human trafficking across the world.

At the conclusion of remarks, each person attending took a cup of red sand and poured it into cracks on the Public Square sidewalk.

“We do this to remember those people in our society who fall between the cracks,” Mosca said.

Earlier this week, Suzanne M. Beck, Chief Executive Officer at the Victims Resource Center in Wilkes-Barre said, “Human trafficking victims can be recruited and trafficked in our own home towns, including here in NEPA. Pennsylvania is ranked 9th in the nation for reported cases of trafficking, and while this is for reported cases, human trafficking is notoriously one of the most under-reported crimes.”

Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce attended the ceremony and he said human trafficking has increased significantly in Luzerne County in recent years.

“It's overwhelming,” he said. “Major city problems are also here in Luzerne County. That's why we need to increase awareness, especially in out neighborhoods.”

Alysha Ennis, Human Trafficking Advocate at the Victims Resource Center, said reported incidents have increased in all three counties served by the agency.

“But the reality is that there are far more unreported cases out there,” Ennis said. “We want everyone to be more aware of their surroundings. A human trafficker could be a friend, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, a husband or a wife. And victims could be any age, from children to adults.”

The NEPA Task Force Against Human Trafficking is a collaborative, multi-disciplinary effort to establish and incorporate best practices to identify and serve victims and at-risk populations, investigate and prosecute perpetrators and increase overall awareness of the purpose of preventing and eliminating exploitation and Human Trafficking, and assisting victims suffering from these crimes to achieve restoration and justice.

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.