Human trafficking occurs around the globe, with an estimated 1.2 million children falling victim to sex trafficking each year. It’s not an across-the-ocean problem alone. The first fact to know is that trafficking happens here – as in Hamilton County here.
In a special Tuesdays With Friends, at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 10, award-winning journalist Tim Swarens will present sobering facts on this serious issue gleaned from his year-long investigation, funded by a grant from the Society of Professional Journalists. His work took him to countries countries on five continents. During his investigative year – 2016 – approximately 10,000 children were sold within the United States. During that same time, but closer to home, nine children from Hamilton County were trafficking victims, one of them only 11 years old.
Hamilton North Public Library’s Friends of the Library is honored to have Swarens as a special presenter for its monthly program and hopes readers will share information with others. The program’s purpose is to discuss the factors that fuel the sex trade and generate awareness and concern among community members, with the ultimate intent to help prevent and stop child sex trafficking. Swarens’s investigative research is to be published by the USA Today Network in a series of columns beginning January 2018.