Sex Trafficking Forum to be Held in Geneva

Rep. Randy Hultgren, R-Winfield in the 14th Congressional District, will host a forum on Thursday, October 23 to help educate the public and raise awareness about sex trafficking and exploitation.

The forum will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Kane County Government Center, 719 S. Batavia Ave.

Speakers include Hultgren; Vick Lombardo and Brian Dugan, from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Chicago Regional Office; Alison Bell from World Relief and the DuPage/Aurora representative on the Illinois Human Trafficking Task Force; and Nancy Allen from the Human Trafficking Freedom Coalition of Northern Illinois

It is estimated that 21 million people worldwide are victims of this form of modern slavery. Of those, more than 100,000 children in the United States and, in greater Chicago, between 16,000 and 25,000 women and girls, are estimated to be exploited by sex trafficking each year.

“Human trafficking, and especially sex slavery, is a particularly insidious crime because it targets the youngest and most vulnerable in society,” Hultgren said. “It isn’t isolated to distant lands far from our shores; it is happening right here in the United States, in Chicago, and increasingly in our own communities. It is critical to understand the extent of the problem in order to confront it and determine how each of us can play a role in successfully combatting it. That is the purpose of this forum.”