By Candy Czernicki of the Catholic Herald Staff

MILWAUKEE — Local, state and national officials gathered at Marquette University’s Raynor Library Oct. 13 to announce the formation of a coalition charged with combating human trafficking in Wisconsin and Milwaukee.

According to Steve Wagner, director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services human trafficking division, the department is sponsoring the initiative “to find, rescue and restore” victims of human trafficking and prosecute the perpetrators. The U.S. departments of homeland security and justice also are partners in the program.

Human trafficking takes two forms: sex trafficking, where victims are coerced into commercial sex work such as prostitution, and labor trafficking, where victims are kept in indentured servitude or debt bondage. Most victims are brought to the United States from Central and South America, Asia or Eastern Europe and have limited or no English skills.

According to a press release, human trafficking is the second largest criminal enterprise in the world, second only to drug dealing and tied with illegal arms activity.

Wade Horn, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said between 14,000 and 16,000 people are trafficked across the United States’ borders each year.

“Human trafficking is an assault on the most fundamental values of a free, civilized society,” Horn said. “A compassionate society does not tolerate the objectification of human beings.”

Only 600 victims of trafficking have been identified to date. Horn said perpetrators tell their victims that they’ll be jailed, deported or harmed if they try to get away. Social service agency workers rarely know the questions to ask or the signs to look for in those who do get out from under the perpetrator’s dominance.

The campaign’s theme, “look beneath the surface,” aims to help in the identification of trafficking victims. Local coalitions are key to spreading knowledge of the problem in their communities. Over 50 nongovernmental organizations in Milwaukee have joined the effort. Several sent representatives to the press conference to speak.

Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, representing the archdiocese, said he was “moved by how the Milwaukee community can come together for a noble cause. This is one of them.” Archbishop Dolan said he was “proud that the Catholic Church has taken a leadership role in this endeavor. That the Catholic Church is on the front lines shouldn’t surprise us.” He quoted Pope John Paul II as saying that wherever human life is in danger, the church must rise up and defend it.

Representatives from Catholic Charities of Milwaukee and Covenant Healthcare also were in attendance.

Be An Informed Catholic!


For the rest of this week's news, visit the Catholic Herald web site.

Click here to subscribe to the Catholic Herald.