Report: Hundreds forced into labor, sex in Ohio
A commission formed last year by Ohio Attorney General Richard Condray has released a report with some bleak findings about human sex and labor trafficking in the state. The report estimates that about 1,000 American-born children and 800 immigrants are forced into labor and/or the sex industry in Ohio each year. The report cited three main factors contributing to the growing Ohio sex industry and the number of immigrants, legal and illegal, forced into menial labor under sweatshop-style conditions. The state's proximity to the Canadian border was thought to make it easier for labor traffickers to smuggle workers; the state's weak human trafficking laws are clearly ineffective; and, finally, the state's increasing demand for cheap labor has businesses desperate for inexpensive workers, including workers forced into labor.
See "Report: Hundreds forced into labor, sex in Ohio", Matt Leingang, The Washington Post, February 10, 2010