(no subject)
The Attorney General's Office cannot fight this problem alone. In order to prosecute those who are preying upon our vulnerable populations, we urge Ohioans to report any information they might have about human trafficking to BCI by calling 1-855-BCI-OHIO (224-6446). This will allow our agents to work with local law enforcement to arrest and prosecute traffickers.
Warning signs of human trafficking to watch for include:
- If you are going into a nail salon, for example, look for sleeping bags that indicate employees are living in the same place where they work and that backrooms appear to be living space. You might notice workers at this salon are driven to the store in groups all at once.
- When a worker answers casual questions, those answers seem scripted or rehearsed.
- Workers may appear exceptionally young or fearful or particularly submissive.
- If you are staying in a hotel or if you work at a hotel, you might see an older male checking in with a young female or females. You might see a young girl refer to that older man as her boyfriend or as "daddy," sometimes street slang for pimp. Look for a tattoo of a man's name, a slang name, or "daddy" on the girl's neck, leg, or shoulder. Does the guest have multiple cell phones, laptops, etc.?
- Are the guests at the hotel frequent customers on weekends, but have a local address and identification?
- Small children serving in a family restaurant.
- Security measures that appear to keep people inside an establishment - barbed wire inside of a fence, bars covering the insides of windows.
- Not allowing people to go into public alone, or speak for themselves.
If you are interested in the Human Trafficking Commission or would like further information, please contact Melinda Sykes, Director of Children's Initiatives, at melinda.sykes@ohioattorneygeneral.gov or 614-995-0328.
Human Trafficking News
6/27/2013
Attorney General DeWine Releases Annual Human Trafficking Statistics
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Also:
"you can call and leave a tip about that 'Asian Bodywork' place with the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or visiting their website at http://www.polarisproject.org/what-we-do/national-human-trafficking-hotline/report-a-tip
You can leave a tip anonymously if you want. They refer the info to law enforcement and provide assistance to victims too. Their website also has flyers you can download with their contact info available in several Asian languages. Just thought it was worth mentioning, you never know if it might help. :)"
--> that last is a tip from someone at ontd_poli. I guess I am scared to call right now and have all kinds of paranoid worries, but I just have to DO it.