Local coalition working to address human trafficking issue

LIMA — Human trafficking used to be an issue associated with exotic locales abroad. It was something that happened in major urban centers. It wasn't something that happened here.

Those assumptions were shattered in 2009. That's when a foreign national in hiding spent a year at a Crossroads Crisis Center shelter. It's also how a few in the Lima community got a first-hand crash course in the $32 billion a year issue of human trafficking — the world's second-largest criminal enterprise.

“That was the first experience I was aware of that touched us,” said David Voth, executive director of Crime Victim Services. “That person wasn't from Allen County it was someone in hiding from another state that kept getting moved because they kept getting found. It still brought it home to us.”

The next year, Voth and Emily Wrencher, director of the crisis center, were both at a conference on the topic. Their interest in the topic coupled with the experience of having a victim in Lima helped facilitate the creation of the Northwest Ohio Human Trafficking Rescue and Restore Coalition.

Comprised of members from Crime Victim Services, Crossroads, Safe Harbor Runaway Shelter, the Lima Police Department and the Partnership for Violence Free Families, among others, the local initiative aims to raise public awareness, aid in survivor recovery and strengthen the judicial response to the crimes.

“I guess coming from a domestic violence arena I'm not surprised,” Wrencher said. “I'm not surprised that it's kind of been an issue that's always been there but has always been covered up or looked the other way or we as a society, and even social service agencies, just haven't devoted the attention that is needed. I would say this issue is where domestic violence was 30 years ago.”

Even with the awareness of the issue, Voth said he didn't anticipate it would be something he saw with any regularity here. Last year, Crime Victim Services was involved in six cases — two involving individuals from outside the area and four involving Allen County residents.

“To have six in one year last year was a shock to me,” Voth said. “I had this concept that it was going to be foreign, adult women. It's tended to be white, middle class youth and young adults and local. I wasn't expecting that.”

Laurel Neufeld Weaver, the rape crisis coordinator for Crime Victim Services, said this whole region needs to have an awakening to the issue.

“In our area we have to wake up to the fact we are very close to an interstate highway system that has the movement of people happening on a daily basis,” Weaver said. “ We think because we don't see it, it doesn't happen. The reality is it is happening.”

Members of the local coalition said they have been working the last couple of years to familiarize themselves with the services available around Lima to aid victims. Those services include free shelter, counseling and 24-hour emergency response.

They have also been trying to spread the word among vulnerable youth in and around the community, according to Tara Nagy, who is part of Safe Harbor Runaway Shelter's street outreach program.

“We look for high-risk youth,” Nagy said. “We're going out into the schools, giving out the information talking about the drop-in center, talking about Safe Harbor. They know they have a safe place to go and maybe they won't take that other route.”

The bottom line is that despite the challenges in identifying human trafficking and the obstacles victims have in getting away from the traffickers, there are resources available locally to help.

“We want anyone who might hear about this to know it is happening,” Voth said. “If it's you, you're not alone. There are people who believe you and will help you.”

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