Anti-trafficking collaborative organizers benefit from ending human trafficking

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Human trafficking isn’t a TV drama about a teenager being abducted in a windowless white van, chained to a basement and sold into prostitution. It’s usually more subtle and insidious.

For example, it could be a boyfriend selling a girlfriend’s sexual services to his friends. Or it could be a runaway who is helped by an adult who turns around and sells his sexual or labor services. It could even be a family member selling a young person’s services.

According to a federal report on the National Human Trafficking Prevention Framework, human trafficking is “the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel someone to perform labor or a commercial sex act.”

It is sad to think about it, but if we do not pay attention to it, the problem will silently spread throughout our region and our country.

The International Labour Organization estimates that 27.6 million people worldwide were exposed to forced labour and/or commercial sexual exploitation in 2021, a slight increase from 2016.

To help fund the fight against human trafficking in Cuyahoga County, the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking will hold its annual benefit from 5-8 p.m. on Thursday, September 19 at Windows on the River in Cleveland.

Cocktails, beer, wine, non-alcoholic beverages and hearty snacks begin at 5 p.m. The Cleveland Pops Orchestra will provide live entertainment.

At 6:00 p.m., keynote speaker Katherine Chon, Senior Advisor on Human Trafficking at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will share key points from the nation’s first report on preventing human trafficking.

“This is an incredibly complex human rights issue that is under-recognized,” said Kirsti Mouncey, president and CEO of the Collaborative.

“This lives in the shadows. Only when we shine the light can we help,” she continued. “When you go to the benefit, you learn how to take action and support the community. We all have a role. It’s not okay to live in a world where you can buy people.”

The Collaborative will honor two leaders committed to ending human trafficking in our region:

Maya Simek, ESQ. LISW-S, MSW, clinical professor of law and director of the Human Trafficking Law Clinic at Case Western Reserve School of Law.
Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) has worked on legislation to strengthen protections for victims of human trafficking and improve law enforcement tools to combat traffickers.

Tickets are now on sale at collabtoendht.networkforgood.com. Tickets are $125 per person or $1,000 for a table of eight. For more information about the Collaborative or to get help, visit collabtoendht.org.

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