January Declared Human Trafficking Awareness Month In Morris County

MORRISTOWN, NJ— Morris County Freeholders signed a proclamation this week declaring January 2017 "Human Trafficking Awareness Month" in the county.

The proclamation was presented to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office and the Morris County Advisory Committee on Women at the Jan. 25 Freeholder Board meeting.

“Human trafficking is a form of modern slavery. It occurs when a trafficker exploits a vulnerable victim with force, fraud, or coercion to make them perform commercial sex or physical labor,’’ said Freeholder Director Doug Cabana. “You would think this type of activity does not occur in Morris County. However, sadly, it does.’’

According to the Department of Homeland Security, human trafficking is modern-day slavery that exploits people for labor or commercial sex acts.

There are multiple types of human trafficking, but the kind most seen in Morris County appears to be sex trafficking. In those cases, adults are made to engage in commercial sex by force, fraud, or coercion. Minors can also be victims of sex trafficking; in those cases, any reason for them to perform commercial sex acts is considered a crime.

In November 2016, a Mount Olive man was arrested for trafficking two teen girls. Two county residents were charged with human trafficking in October 2016.

There are some warning signs that might be present if someone is a victim of human trafficking (you can see the full list here):

• Does the victim act fearful, anxious, depressed, submissive,
  tense, or nervous/paranoid?
• Has the victim been harmed or deprived of food, water, sleep, medical care, or other life necessities?
• Does the victim have few or no personal possessions?
• Can the victim freely contact friends or family?
• Has the victim or family been threatened with harm if the victim
  attempts to escape?
• Does the victim work excessively long and/or unusual hours?
• Has the victim been threatened with deportation or law
  enforcement action? Is the victim in possession of identification and travel documents; if not, who has control of the documents?

Image: Virgina Lyttle of the Advisory Council on Women talks about human trafficking as the county freeholders listen, via Morris County Government