Unlucky Thirteen: A new campaign looks to raise awareness of human trafficking
Human trafficking is considered one of the fastest growing forms of organized crime all over the world, affecting more than 800,000 people a year. A huge number like that is considered by many to be a conservative estimate of the total number of people sold into modern day slavery annually. Human trafficking knows no bounds and affects all regions across the globe. Law enforcement officials, along with community activists, seek to end this horror and be a voice for the voiceless and raise community awareness. On Tuesday, June 24, 2014 along W. Wisconsin Avenue volunteers and victims of sex trafficking stood displaying “Unlucky 13” signs that will also appear on Milwaukee County bus shelters, to call attention to sex trafficking in the region. “Unlucky 13” represents the average age when a person begin being trafficked for sex. A consortium of agencies, including Serve Marketing, the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Clear Channel, the Human Trafficking Task Force of Greater Milwaukee, United Way, Milwaukee Health Department and County Executive Chris Abele have joined forces to show people in the community a sex trafficking problem exists in this area. Human trafficking has been a problem throughout Wisconsin. Last week, the FBI rescued 168 victims of child prostitution during their annual national crackdown that included individuals from the greater Milwaukee area.
Human trafficking is considered one of the fastest growing forms of organized crime all over the world, affecting more than 800,000 people a year. A huge number like that is considered by many to be a conservative estimate of the total number of people sold into modern day slavery annually. Human trafficking knows no bounds and affects all regions across the globe. Law enforcement officials, along with community activists, seek to end this horror and be a voice for the voiceless and raise community awareness. On Tuesday, June 24, 2014 along W. Wisconsin Avenue volunteers and victims of sex trafficking stood displaying “Unlucky 13” signs that will also appear on Milwaukee County bus shelters, to call attention to sex trafficking in the region. “Unlucky 13” represents the average age when a person begin being trafficked for sex. A consortium of agencies, including Serve Marketing, the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County, Clear Channel, the Human Trafficking Task Force of Greater Milwaukee, United Way, Milwaukee Health Department and County Executive Chris Abele have joined forces to show people in the community a sex trafficking problem exists in this area. Human trafficking has been a problem throughout Wisconsin. Last week, the FBI rescued 168 victims of child prostitution during their annual national crackdown that included individuals from the greater Milwaukee area.
