(The Center Square) – Federal authorities have announced prison sentences in two human trafficking cases in Chicago’s suburbs, but an anti-trafficking group said Illinois has a long way to go in the areas of prevention and response to victims.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Illinois announced that a Joliet man was sentenced to 27 years in prison for sex trafficking and facilitating the sex trafficking of multiple women. A co-defendant from Richton Park pleaded guilty to his role in the trafficking of multiple victims, including a minor.
In a separate case, a suburban woman and her two daughters were sentenced for labor trafficking undocumented children from West Africa. The sentences ranged from six years and eight months to eight-and-a-half years.
Illinois received an “F” on Shared Hope International’s Report Card for Child and Youth Sex Trafficking, but Sidney McCoy of Shared Hope said the grade only refers to statutory law.
“We’re only looking at the black-letter law. We’re not looking at any type of regulation, internal policy, (or) case law. We’re not looking at implementation,” McCoy said.
McCoy said there are a lot of things people are doing at the agency level that might not be reflected in the report card.
Since 2020, the Illinois State Police Academy has held Human Trafficking Recognition training for every cadet that has graduated.
McCoy said Illinois can improve its grade if people recognize the signs of human trafficking and remove vulnerabilities that lead to exploitation.
“Individuals who come from more marginalized communities, who come from poor socioeconomic status, they’re more at risk. They’re more vulnerable to being exploited,” McCoy said.
McCoy said she thinks the No. 1 thing that leads to people being exploited and being trafficked is homelessness.
“Making sure that there are resources in communities so that people, when they are experiencing homelessness or are unhoused, or young people who are running away from home, they have places that they can go to get the services that they need to prevent them from being exploited in the first place,” McCoy said.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration closed Aunt Martha’s Integrated Care Center on Chicago’s South Side this summer after allegations of sexual assaults by two workers starting in 2023.
According to an investigation by Injustice Watch, alleged transgressions at Aunt Martha’s included sex trafficking of minors, staffers who should never have been hired because of disqualifying prior arrests, overlooked claims of guards using sexual innuendos with children, sharing pornographic videos among themselves at work, and thousands of reported violent attacks among young residents.
Injustice Watch reported that soon after Pritzker took office in 2019, he elevated Aunt Martha’s as a model for how Illinois would serve abused foster children with mental health diagnoses.
Sidney McCoy, of Shared Hope International, said the trafficking issue gained traction in 2000, when Congress enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
“The main focus was on going after offenders and making sure that traffickers and pimps were all being held accountable, which was absolutely necessary, but I do think there’s been a really big shift in the anti-trafficking space to focus more on survivors and victims and what they’re needing,” McCoy said.
McCoy said most people in the anti-trafficking world were not fans of the 2023 film, “Sound of Freedom,” but she said the movie did raise awareness and lead more people to volunteer.
“Definitely it had a more international focus on the issue of trafficking and not really a domestic focus, and they are very different,” McCoy said.
McCoy added that trafficking can look different in a rural area than it does in an urban area.
The International Labor Organization estimated that illegal global profits from human trafficking increased from $150 billion in 2014 to $236 billion in 2023.
According to the United Nations’ Office on Drugs and Crime, human trafficking results in an irretrievable loss of human resources and reductions in revenue. Trafficking yields no tax revenues, and may even lead to a net revenue loss as a result of tax evasion and money-laundering. There will be a lower accumulation of human capital and a lower rate of participation in the labour market.
The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime added that the effects of the bribery and corruption known to accompany trafficking practices may destabilize regulatory regimes and their supporting infrastructure and also significantly inhibit much needed overseas investment and trade.
The National Human Trafficking Hotline is 1-888-373-7888.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children can be reached by calling 1-800-843-5678 or by logging on to http://www.missingkids.com. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
