Keeping Us Safe: Preventing Human Trafficking at Home

Press Release

Congressman Aaron Schock (IL-18) hosted a panel Tuesday at Illinois State University to bring awareness to the issue of domestic and international human trafficking and discuss methods of prevention.

The event featured four panelists that included, among others, an officer at the Homeland Security Investigations office in Chicago, IL and a sex-trafficking survivor who now serves as CEO of Sun Gate Foundation, a survivor-led organization that empowers victims of sex-trafficking.

"One victim is too many victims," said Congressman Schock, "and the scary thing is that there are more people enslaved in this world today than at any time throughout human history. Often times, we think of slavery as something that happened hundreds of years ago, and if it is happening today, we think it's happening in other parts of the globe--certainly not in the United States. But the fact is that it is happening here."

Victims of human trafficking can be any age, race, gender, or nationality and can be subjected to forced labor, domestic servitude, or sexual exploitation. The Department of Justice estimates that 300,000 children in the U.S. are at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking. Advocacy and awareness efforts are instrumental in eliminating the threat of human trafficking in the United States and abroad.

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