Slavery has been abolished for more than 150 years nationwide since the enactment of the 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Despite this ban on slavery, human trafficking has become a $150 billion criminal enterprise. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defines human trafficking as the “use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.”

And who are the individuals that fall victim to the hands of these traffickers?

According to the International Labor Organization, 1 out of 4 victims is no other than our nation’s children.

The Richmond Justice Initiative reports that experts estimate more than 100,000 children are trafficked each year.

It’s a common misconception that human traffick- ing only occurs in foreign countries. The fact is that human trafficking exists in every country, including the United States. Because of the

intersection of Interstates 64, 95, and 295 in Richmond, the Richmond area has become a playground for traffickers to exploit our children.

It isn’t enough anymore to just write about the increasing number of children lured into the dark depths of human trafficking. We must push our community to advocate toward the enactment of policies that combat human trafficking head on.

Policies and legislation like the Runaway and Homeless Youth Trafficking Prevention Act of 2019 set out to expand and improve the quality of services offered to children who find themselves at the mercy of these human traffickers. More specifically, the bill will allow $75 million to be used toward intensifying supports and the identification of these young people.

Your efforts to push for enactment of this legislation are so critical. The underground nature of human trafficking makes it difficult to quantify the number of children exploited. Human traffickers also are using social media platforms to recruit our vulnerable children.

As a community, we need to open our eyes and acknowledge that our children are being trafficked. And it will take a community effort to fight against it and win our children back.

Push for policies that protect our children and ensure that they experience a healthy environment in which to grow because, as we know, it takes a village to raise a child.

MARCHELLE WILLIAMS

Richmond