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Young Human Rights Advocates Call for Congress to Thwart Human Trafficking Through Better Police Training

Youth for Human Rights volunteers from across the country have been meeting with their Members of Congress both in Washington, DC, and back home at their local district offices.

Youth for Human Rights volunteers from across the country have been meeting with their Members of Congress both in Washington, DC, and back home at their local district offices.

Youth for Human Rights volunteers from across the country meet with their government representative to combat human trafficking including in Columbus, Ohio.

Many victims get transported through big cities like Columbus. It's important that we get as many people as possible educated on how to spot the sign of human trafficking and handle it accordingly”
— Martine Yang, Youth for Human Rights Columbus

COLUMBUS, OHIO, USA, January 22, 2020 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Human rights advocates from Columbus, Ohio, met with Representative Joyce Beatty to discuss the serious crime of human trafficking happening in their district and across the United States.

Human trafficking victims have been identified in cities, suburbs and rural areas in all 50 states and in Washington, DC. Not only in underground markets but also in legal and legitimate business settings, victims of trafficking are made to work or provide commercial sex against their will. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates 40.3 million people are involved in human trafficking also known as modern-day slavery.

Advocates asked Representative Beatty to support H.R.836 Interdiction for the Protection of Child Victims of Exploitation and Human Trafficking Act. This bill is intended to establish a pilot program that will provide training on child exploitation and human trafficking to police and other law enforcement officers around the country. Such training has already been implemented locally in various states and has brought tremendous results racking up hundreds of children rescued and hundreds of pimps and kidnappers arrested. It is hoped that the bill’s implementation at the federal level will ensure a substantial decrease in human trafficking, especially of children nationwide.

“Last year there were nearly 900 identified victims of human trafficking in Ohio that were reported to that National Human Trafficking Hotline. Many victims get transported through big cities like Columbus. It's important that we get as many people as possible educated on how to spot the signs of human trafficking and handle it accordingly,” said Martine Yang, an organizer with Youth for Human Rights Columbus.

The police training program was initially created in 2009 by an officer in the Texas Department of Public Safety, Derek Prestridge, who realized there was no real training for officers to identify missing, exploited or at-risk children when they’re encountered on the street. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which gave an award to Prestridge in 2016 for his work, offered its full endorsement of the legislation.

Through its Annual U.S. Youth for Human Rights National Conference in Washington, DC, advocates help raise awareness with youth, government officials and others about the problem of human trafficking or modern-day slavery, a type of crime that now affects an estimated 20-30 million people worldwide, mostly women and children.

About Youth for Human Rights:
Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to teach youth about human rights, specifically the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and inspire them to become valuable advocates for tolerance and peace. YHRI advocates for human rights both in the classroom and in nontraditional educational settings such as through art series, concerts and other interactive community events, including regional and international human rights summits bringing youth together from across whole sectors of the world. Their most recent campaign has included #KnowYour30 with the deliberate purpose of increasing awareness of the 30 human rights every person has -- and how they are a part of everyday life. To learn more about human rights go to https://www.youthforhumanrights.org. For a documentary on Youth for Human Rights and its founder, go to https://www.scientology.tv/series/voices-for-humanity/mary-shuttleworth.html.

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