Global Trafficking

According to the 2016 International Labor Report

- An estimated 40.3 million people are estimated to be victims of trafficking globally
- An estimated 24.9 million people are in forced labor, and 4.8 million people are estimated to be in forced sexual exploitation
- 1 in 4 victims are children worldwide

Human Trafficking in the U.S.

- Human trafficking is an underreported crime and often difficult to quantify due to survivors not always identifying themselves as victims, newness of state laws, and often HT is reported as another crime such as sexual assault, human smuggling, domestic violence, child pornography etc.
- From 2007-2017 Polaris reports 40,987 cases of human trafficking (this can involve more than one victim)
- In 2017 The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimated that 1 in 7 endangered runaways reported to them were likely victims of sex trafficking. Of those cases, 86 % were in the care of social services when they ran.

- Ohio is 5th in the Nation for number of hotline calls to Polaris. This means that trafficking is occurring frequently in Ohio, but it also shows that Ohio is doing a good job identifying and reporting.
- According to the CDC, in 2017 Ohio was in the top states with drug overdoses leading to death. Drugs are often used as a form of coercion to get individuals to stay and the overlap between the heroin epidemic and human trafficking is actively being researched.
- The Summit County Collaborative Against Human Trafficking Direct Services Committee has been tracking data since October of 2018 and will continue tracking as a Collaborative quarterly.

If you or someone you know would like more information about the resources and providers in our community, please check out our Resource Guide below.