Slavery in U.S. is still a major concern for officials

While breaking a human trafficking operation in Florida, federal agents came across a prime example of what makes this crime more heinous than many others.

Robert Moossy, chief deputy for the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice, said as police raided a group of trailers used to hold female sex slaves against their will, they came across a 14-year-old Mexican girl locked in a filthy room.

The girl told police she was forced to have sex with as many as 30 men a day. The only two items in the room aside from the bed were a teddy bear the girl used to cling to her childhood, and a roll of paper towels.

Speaking before members of state and federal law enforcement agencies Tuesday, Moossy said the trafficking of human slaves, for sex or free labor, is alive and well in the 21st century. A global problem, the human slave trade seeps into the United States and can reach places such as cities in Utah, Moossy said.

The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that between 800,000 to 900,000 people are bought and sold worldwide every year. In the United States, between 18,000 to 20,000 victims are trafficked for various uses, including agriculture labor, textile workers, even domestic servants and nannies.

More than half of the victims trafficked into the United States are children and are estimated to be equally male and female, coming from locations like Latin America, Africa, Asia, India, Eastern Europe, Russia and Canada.

"It's using coercion to make somebody work against their will," Moossy said during the Utah Human Trafficking Conference sponsored by the office of U.S. Attorney for Utah Paul Warner.

While human trafficking is a federal offense, there is currently no Utah law against it. Rep. Jackie Biskupski, D-Salt Lake, is working on legislation to change that.

"It's going to be really focused on the victims and just trying to make it so people who are involved in this activity realize that Utah is not a friendly place to try to get away with it," Biskupski said. Biskupski said her law would protect all victims of trafficking — from homeless youths to those brought from overseas.

Biskupski is working with the Center for Women Policy Studies, based in Washington, D.C., which is pushing for states to pass laws making trafficking a felony offense and to provide victim protection and assistance programs.