Ohio joins a majority of states in pursuing human traffickers

Ohio doesn’t immediately come to mind when the issue of modern-day slavery is raised, but as other parts of the country clamp down on the human traffickers, the Buckeye State has been in danger of becoming a safe haven for them.

Indeed, while the 1,000 young people between the ages of 12 and 17 forced into the sex trade in one year may pale in comparison to 20,000 victims in the United States, the number is still significant for a state in middle America. In Ohio, another 800 immigrants are sexually exploited and pushed in sweatshop-type jobs.

But, a new law will soon be in effect that sends a strong message to the purveyors of this inhumanity: Stay away.

Last week, the House of Representatives followed the Senate’s lead and passed the measure making human trafficking a stand-alone felony, punishable by up to eight years in prison. Once signed by Gov. Ted Strickland, who will be leaving office on Jan. 10, 2011, the law should end what Rep. Kathleen Chandler, D-Kent, called “an epidemic.”

“Human trafficking takes away the most fundamental of human rights,” Chandler said in urging passage of the bill. “This is the most humiliating, degrading and vicious form of slavery that one can imagine.”

The measure passed 95-0, with Democrats and Republicans demonstrating bipartisanship in this highly partisan political climate.

The House is controlled by the Democrats, who will be in the minority next year. The Senate is firmly in the hands of the Republicans.

There won’t be many opportunities for Ohioans to hail bipartisan action in Columbus next year, which is why the human trafficking law deserves to be acknowledged.

The measure is also testament to Gov. Strickland’s commitment to the issue.

Last year, he signed the state’s first trafficking-in-persons law that opened the door for the formation of a study commission. Attorney General Richard Cordray, a Democrat who lost his re-election bid in November, presided over the first gathering of the panel last August. The commission issued the “Report on the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in Ohio,” which quantified the problem.

Sex trafficking

Ohio has been described as a high supply, transit and destination state for victims. They could be foreign-born residents in the state legally or illegally, domestic violence victims, runaways and homeless youth. Forced labor and sex trafficking are what awaits them.

But with the new law, the uncertainty over what to do with the traffickers will end. In the past, individuals who purchased the young were rarely prosecuted in a significant way, while the slave masters faced minor consequences.

Because Ohio did not have a stand-alone law, a person caught enslaving others was not charged with human trafficking. Prosecutors had the option of attaching a human trafficking specification to related crimes to increase an offender’s penalty, but the specification was not used often because it was legally complicated.

Now, potential victims have reason to hope — and to be confident that those who would treat human beings as commodities will suffer the full impact of Ohio’s human trafficking law.