According to the Idaho Press, President Donald Trump stated in April 2018 that human trafficking was “worse than it’s ever been in the history of the world.” While President Barack Obama declared January “National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month” in 2017.

While most will agree that human trafficking needs to be addressed, what is more difficult is finding the right way to address this issue. For some that begins with realizing that human trafficking is something that may be taking place right in their very own neighborhood.

The Idaho State Police saw zero cases of human trafficking in their 2017 and 2018 annual crime reports. When asked how many human trafficking cases it had prosecuted recently the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho was unable to provide any numbers for cases prosecuted according to this 2019 report by the Idaho Press.

Meanwhile this same Idaho Press reporter, Tommy Simmons, uncovered three instances of human trafficking victims within the last week when this article was published, by reaching out to counselor and advocate Paula Barthelmess. Barthelmess claimed that the Idaho Anti-trafficking Coalition routinely saw as many as four victims a week.

Another organization that works to end human trafficking is the Polaris Project, which runs the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline. According to data collected by the Polaris Project and the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline, there were 26 Idaho cases of human trafficking in 2018, up from 14 cases in 2017 and 15 reported cases in 2016. Polaris notes a distinction between calls and “cases.” In 2018 victims and survivors made 32 calls to the Human Trafficking Hotline, with 22 calls in 2017 and 24 in 2016.

Nationally, the Polaris Project, worked on 10,949 cases of human trafficking in 2018. Out of these cases 23,078 involved individual survivors; almost 5,859 potential traffickers and 1,905 trafficking businesses. Cases may involve more than one survivor.

These numbers are likely just the beginning. According to Polaris, “Human trafficking is notoriously underreported.”

It wasn’t until 2014 that the first human trafficking case was initiated in the District of Idaho. Michael Wade, a Boise man, admitted to trafficking a 15-year-old girl  eventually pleading guilty to child sex trafficking. In January 2017 Wade was sentenced to 20 years in prison. As Tommy Simmons noted, “It made headlines because it was unusual in that it ended in a guilty plea to trafficking.”

Part of the reason for this is because of the difficulty in recognizing instances of human trafficking. As Polaris has stated, “It can happen to anyone,” and “it’s happening in your backyard.”

To contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free 24/7 call 1(888)373-7888. You will speak with a specially trained Anti-trafficking Advocate, with support available in more than 200 languages.

Or text “help” or “info” to BeFree (233733).

Click here to fill out this simple form to ask your Senators to address human trafficking.