Indiana News

State Rep: human trafficking victims “not just street kids”

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind (WOWO/Indiana News Service): Human trafficking was put into the spotlight in Indiana during the Super Bowl of 2012 in Indianapolis when dozens of prostitutes were arrested and many told police they’d been forced into it.

State Rep. Wendy McNamara says it opened a lot of eyes because many, herself included, didn’t realize human trafficking was happening in Indiana.

Since then, several pieces of legislation to toughen the laws against human slavery have been approved, including one this session by McNamara that says anyone arrested for human trafficking has to be placed on the sex offender registry.

“What it does is give the community peace of mind,” she says. “Because you can look up the sex offender registry and see who’s in your neighborhood and that sort of person will not be permitted to be around kids, schools things like that.”

McNamara says about one new human trafficking case is opened in Indiana every month. According to the watchdog group the Polaris Project, around 21 million people are victims of modern day slavery around the world.

RELATED: Two men arrested for Human Trafficking

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