NCJ Number
221805
Date Published
2007
Length
110 pages
Annotation
This report designed to provide context about human trafficking in Ohio, systematically explores human trafficking in terms of its existence and characteristics, in terms of how the criminal justice and social service communities respond to it.
Abstract
If policymakers and practitioners in Ohio want to improve on the current response to human trafficking, the analysis offers several recommendations: (1) improve awareness and response through training, education, and outreach; (2) improve victim programs and resources; (3) improve law enforcement capacity; (4) improve practitioners collaborations; (5) refine departmental policies; (6) use analyses to develop evidence-based programs and responses; and (7) consider and assess legislative, legal, and regulatory changes. This assessment explores the existence and characteristics of human trafficking in Ohio, with a focus on the extent to which human trafficking occurs (its existence), characteristics (limited to concrete cases for which there is evidence supporting a trafficking offense), and the awareness and response of the criminal justice and social service communities to human trafficking. The analysis examines two urban communities, Columbus and Toledo, to explore the characteristics of and response to human trafficking in Ohio, relying on a content analysis of newspaper accounts and key respondent interviews with criminal justice officials and social service providers in each site. Two types of human trafficking markers were identified in the case study sites. The first centered on juvenile prostitution, and the second trafficking marker centered on labor. Several suggestions or recommendations are offered to help improve the State’s current response to human trafficking. Appendixes A-D and references