It has been 158 years since the 13th amendment was ratified into the United States Constitution, which marked the end of slavery. But the unfortunate reality is that slavery is still very prevalent today. Today slavery is now referred to or known as human trafficking. Human trafficking, “involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.” At the national level, 82,301 cases of human trafficking and 164,839 victims have been identified since the Human Trafficking Hotline was established in 2007. What does this mean for Wisconsin? In Wisconsin’s 72 counties, human trafficking has been identified. 796 cases of human trafficking and 1,640 victims have been identified since the Human Trafficking Hotline was established. Although this number may not seem significant for some, most cases of trafficking go unnoticed or uncounted because of lack of clear legal definitions of trafficking and data entering practices related to human trafficking. Although human trafficking is becoming more prevalent, there are still ways we all can help those who are being trafficked. A huge role we all can play in this, is to look for signs of human trafficking. Individuals who are being trafficked may be living with their employer, their answers may appear to be scripted and or rehearsed, their employer may be holding their identification documents, and they may look submissive or fearful. If you believe someone is being trafficked, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline which is a 24-hour service. If you call 1-888-373-7888 you can report a tip and even be connected to the anti-trafficking services near you.

Human Trafficking in Wisconsin. Fight To End Exploitation. (2024). https://fighttoendexploitation.org/what-ishuman-trafficking/human-trafficking-in-wisconsin/

 National Human Trafficking Hotline. (2024). National statistics. https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/statistics National Human Trafficking Hotline. (n.d.). National human trafficking hotline at-a-glance. https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en

U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (n.d.). What is human trafficking?: Homeland security. Blue Campaign. https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/what-human-trafficking

U.S. Department of State. (2021, January 10). Identify and assist a trafficking victim. https://www.state.gov/identify-and-assist-a-trafficking-victim/

 Wisconsin. National Human Trafficking Hotline. (2024). https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en/statistics/wisconsin

Woods, M. (2023, April 24). How big of a problem is sex trafficking in Wisconsin?. Spectrum News. https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/milwaukee/news/2023/04/19/part-1–how-big-of-a-problem-is-sex-traffickingin-wisconsin-