The
number, however, may be much higher as human trafficking is always
clandestine and its victims are hidden and afraid to step forward.
The
report is the result of a year-long effort by the Florida Department
of Children and Families Office of Refugee Services and the Office of
Refugee
Services
(ORS).
Highlighting
the thriving “modern-day slavery” in Florida, CHAR Executive
director Terry Coonan said human trafficking has become a
“multibillion-dollar industry”.
“Unlike
drugs, humans can be recycled. They can continue to be exploited, so
it's a better investment for the traffickers,” Florida State
University’s press office quoted Coonan as saying.
The
report said high rate of illiteracy and economic conditions are the
main culprit.
It
states several trafficking cases including sex trafficking, forced
labor and domestic servitude.
In
many cases, says the nine-chapter report, recruiters lured young girls
and women to the United States with false promises of legitimate work,
taking advantage of their dire need for money.
“When
they arrived in, these women and girls were forced into the brutal and
horrifying existence of forced prostitution.
“The
brutality of the traffickers is overwhelming, even to read. They use
tactics ranging from threats of violence to the victims and their
families in their home countries to intricate and complex
psychological torture and manipulations,” said the report.
In
a nutshell, the traffickers make their victims completely dependent on
them financially and socially, it added.
The
research group interviewed 12 Mexican women and girls who were
smuggled into the United States between 1996 and 1997.
The
women - some as young as 13 - were brought to South Florida where they
were forced to work as prostitutes to pay off their smuggling fees.
Help
The
working group has already explored ways to help the victims.
The
research project’s director Robin Thompson oversaw the statewide
working group and began the development of protocols to help social
workers and law enforcement officers recognize human trafficking
victims and learn about the benefits victims are eligible for under
the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, said the press office.
CAHR
will offer training to victim advocates, social workers and law
enforcement officers in the next two years.
“The
greater the awareness, the more likely these cases will be reported
and prosecuted,” Coonan said.
“This
is almost an invisible crime because the victims are kept out of the
public eye. We need to crack this code of silence.”
The
report lauded positive responses from different rights groups, chiefly
the Washington State Task Force and the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Task
Force.
It
urged media to run entertainment, news and other informational
programs about human trafficking.
The
Justice Department said there are some 80 current federal
investigations into human trafficking in the United States.
