By LOIS KINDLE
Human trafficking isn’t new. It’s taken many forms throughout human history and can be traced back to ancient times. And while we’d all like to believe society has moved beyond it, trafficking continues today—often closer to home than many realize.
According to TIPSTR—a statewide data tool developed by the University of South Florida used to track, map and analyze human trafficking—there were more than 200,000 sex trafficking victims, more than 500,000 victims of labor trafficking/exploitation and 581,000 victims of cyber exploitation in 2024.
“Human trafficking is considered a hidden crime and its victims are often invisible,” said TIP Lab Director Joan A. Reid PhD, a licensed mental health counselor. “Traffickers work hard to prevent victims from reporting their victimization to the police and many victims appear to the untrained observer to be willing participants in the crime being committed against them. Given these circumstances, the key objective of this report is to, as much as possible, make the hidden and invisible visible to those who have the will and responsibility to take action toward disrupting human trafficking in our communities, counties and state.”
January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month, which is dedicated to shining a light on what is too often unseen. Its purpose is to increase public awareness, strengthen prevention efforts, encourage community engagement and build support for survivors.
“One of the common misconceptions is its perpetrators are strangers,” said CEO Clara Reynolds, of the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay. “In reality, it’s usually a family member, romantic partner, employer or someone else known to the victim—who can be of any race, gender or age.”
Human trafficking includes both sex trafficking and forced labor. Coercion can be physical, emotional or economic, with traffickers using promises of love, housing or work; threats; isolation; manipulation; or control of money or documents to exploit their victims. Drugs are often involved.
Despite common perception, human trafficking doesn’t always look like the dramatic scenes people imagine. It can be subtle — a young person suddenly cut off from friends, a worker who isn’t free to leave their job, someone who shows signs of injury or malnourishment or a person who seems closely monitored or controlled by another person. Traffickers often prey on a potential victim’s vulnerability, isolation or simple human need for connection.
“If you see anything you suspect, call law enforcement or us at 211,” Reynolds said. “Our specialists are available 24/7.”
She added the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay also has a dedicated care coordinator who supports survivors of human trafficking and works throughout the community to build greater awareness.
“Survivors are believed, and there is a network of support and resources available. We connect survivors to whatever they need,” Reynolds said.
The Campaign Against Human Trafficking – SouthShore’s mission is to make all of Hillsborough County—including South Shore—a Human Trafficking Free Zone by “providing resources to those who rescue and support victims and critical information to protect others from being victimized.
CAHT volunteers educate the community on all aspects of human trafficking—how to recognize victims and understand the ways they’re exploited— while also providing resources to organizations that shelter and protect them and provide recovery programs. The group raises funds, recruits volunteers and donors and partners with like minded organizations; sponsors informational events and media campaigns; and advocates for legal and government action to remove traffickers and hold them accountable.
CAHT recently received a significant endowment from the estate of former Sun City Center resident Dorothy Rich, allowing it to increase support for many Tampa Bay-organizations operating safe houses for trafficking victims, said CAHT President Lou Anne Rossdeutscher.
CAHT’s long-term goal is to have a safe house in the South Shore area. The group’s three-year plan for the shelter started six months ago and includes hosting its first fundraiser for the Breaking Chains – Building Futures project in late spring.
“Hillsborough County is No. 1 in per capita phone calls to the Florida Human Trafficking Hotline—Tampa is No. 12 in the country and No. 3 in Florida in calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline,” Rossdeutscher said.
“It’s a very real and urgent problem in all of our South Shore communities, as well,” she continued. “Every life rescued is a victory.”
To reach the National Human Trafficking Hotline, call 888-373-7888. The Florida Human Trafficking Hotline number is 855-352-7233. For more information on CAHT, visit https://cahtfl.org/.