(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Attorney General Mike DeWine praised today's signing by Gov. John Kasich of an executive order creating the Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force to combat human trafficking in the state.
"The governor's action today will help us make strides against the brutality that is human trafficking," said Attorney General DeWine, who attended the signing. "The message is clear: Ohio is unified in our effort to end human trafficking."
In August 2011, Attorney General DeWine reconvened the Ohio Human Trafficking Commission to work on ways to stop human trafficking and help its victims. Participants include law enforcement, social service agencies, religious organizations, state agencies, and education professionals from across the state.
The Human Trafficking Commission will work closely with Gov. Kasich's new task force to ensure that comprehensive services are available for victims.
Anyone with information about human trafficking should call BCI at 1-855-BCI-OHIO (224-6446).
Warning signs of human trafficking to watch for include:
- If you are going into a nail salon, for example, look for sleeping bags that indicate employees are living in the same place where they work and that backrooms appear to be living space. You might notice workers at this salon are driven to the store in groups all at once.
- When a worker answers casual questions, those answers seem scripted or rehearsed.
- Workers may appear exceptionally young or fearful or particularly submissive.
- If you are staying in a hotel or if you work at a hotel, you might see an older male checking in with a young female or females. You might see a young girl refer to that older man as her boyfriend or as "daddy," sometimes street slang for pimp. Look for a tattoo of a man's name, a slang name, or "daddy" on the girl's neck, leg, or shoulder. Does the guest have multiple cell phones, laptops, etc.?
- Are the guests at the hotel frequent customers on weekends, but have a local address and identification?
- Small children serving in a family restaurant.
- Security measures that appear to keep people inside an establishment – barbed wire inside of a fence, bars covering the insides of windows.
- Not allowing people to go into public alone, or speak for themselves.