By Lilly Shepherd
Web Content Intern
Our afterschool youth group Council Fellows is celebrating its role – in coalition with many other groups – in helping to pass legislation (SB235) that will make human trafficking a felony offense in Ohio. Reps from Council Fellows were on hand two weeks ago to see Senators cast their votes, yielding a unanimous outcome. The students’ feelings of success are tempered, however, with the reality that having a law against this criminal activity will not mean that it will cease to occur, nor does it mean that the victims have been “freed” or saved. Every day, more news stories point to the need to do more.
Federal authorities recently uncovered a sex trafficking ring led by gangs from Minnesota, where members forced girls as young as 13 into prostitution in Ohio, Minnesota, and Tennessee, the Columbus Dispatch recently reported. Dozens of other news articles have been published in the past few years further illustrating the fact that not only does slavery still exist, but it is one of fastest growing criminal industries in the world, and it even happens in Columbus, as well as throughout the state. A piece about a 2008 Hilliard Darby High School graduate alerted the public to the fact that our own suburban teenagers are vulnerable. This captured the attention of many who were otherwise ignorant about the issue’s prevalence and proximity. This young woman is just one of thousands whose freedom is denied on a daily basis.
It is important to note that human trafficking encompasses more than forced prostitution: It is any activity that forces or coerces a person into doing any kind of work against his or her will and for neglible or no pay and little hope of escape. It is any activity that takes away the right to choose, tying victims to their “owners” in debt bondage through threatening them or their loved ones, forcing them to abuse drugs, or (in the case of immigrants) taking away the identifying paperwork that allows them to remain in the United States legally or to obtain services.
Ohio Senate Bill 235 was introduced to begin to address this reality. Once members of last year’s Council Fellows group learned of the legislative piece, they saw it as an opportunity to combat the issue in a substantive way. And when this year’s members read in The Columbus Dispatch that Ohio Senate President Bill Harris (R-Ashland) had planned to severely limit the current Ohio Senate session, possibly in order to reject appointments recently made by outgoing Governor Ted Strickland, they mobilized a response. They worked over the course of three meetings to design outreach efforts that would involve their peers in applying pressure to the Senate leadership. Fortunately for Ohio, the efforts of these students never needed to come to fruition, because the tone of Senate leadership changed and the legislation passed. Unfortunately for our Council Fellows, who are of course teenagers with a still-developing appreciation for the concept of “delayed gratification,” it has left them feeling frustrated and uncertain about what they can do next.
CCWA’s Council Fellows began their advocacy efforts last fall as part of a three-pronged approach to address the issue of Human Trafficking. They worked to influence legislation, provide assistance directly to victims, and design activities to inform the broader public about the issue.
Human trafficking was chosen as Council Fellows campaign because it is both local and global in scope, and because it represented a chance to protect the freedoms of vulnerable individuals as guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Though participation in related projects has been a valuable learning experience for the student members carrying over from last year, the newly initiated Council Fellows who were accepted to the group this fall are still looking for ways to make a contribution to the process.
The group has been meeting to establish new goals and a fresh focus for their formal commitment to ending modern day slavery. The group has decided to select a different issue to impact over the remainder of the program year. Our Director of Youth Programs invites the public to suggest ideas for Council Fellows’ next campaign, by email or on our Facebook page. We are also accepting applications for new members to engage later this year. More information can be found at: http://columbusworldaffairs.org/what-we-do/youth-programs/council-fellows/.