{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://hultgren.house.gov//newsroom/in-the-news/forum-discusses-human-trafficking-in-fox-valley", "Forum discusses human trafficking in Fox Valley", "2014-10-27", "2014", "2014-10", "Republican", "House", "IL", "Randy Hultgren", "H001059", "hultgren.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "It was around five years ago a young reporter at the Courier-News in Elgin began working on a story concerning human trafficking in Kane County.\n\tI remember the statistics and horror stories she was finding. I also distinctly remember being surprised \u2013 and yes, a bit skeptical \u2013 when she told me how rampant this form of human slavery was, not only in\u00a0Chicago\u00a0but our own\u00a0Fox\u00a0Valley.\n\tI felt less guilty about that prior skepticism Thursday evening after attending a forum on human trafficking sponsored by Congressman Randy Hultgren at the\u00a0Kane\u00a0County\u00a0Government\u00a0Center\u00a0in\u00a0Geneva.\n\tThere, a couple of Chicago FBI agents informed the audience that even law enforcement attitudes about human trafficking has changed dramatically over the last five years. That not only includes shifting prosecution away from the victims, but helping them permanently get out of these degrading and dangerous situations.\n\tThe FBI is also focusing more on education, not only of other law enforcement groups but the community in general, including healthcare workers who often don\u2019t realize it when they come in contact with a victim.\n\tThe dirty little secret of human trafficking \u2013 which includes using men and more often women and children against their free will for sex and manual labor \u2014 is garnering much more attention these days, thanks to people like those on this forum panel.\n\tIn addition to\u00a0\u00a0FBI agents Vick Lombardo and Jonathan Williamson, the experts included Nancy Allen from the Human Trafficking Freedom Coalition of Northern\u00a0Illinois; and Allison Bell, World Relief and DuPage/Aurora representative on the Illinois Human Trafficking Task Force.\n\tAll four spoke passionately about how prevalent and heartbreaking this situation is. On a global scale there are an estimated 29 million victims of human trafficking, more so than any other time in human history. In\u00a0Chicago\u00a0\u2013 with around 25,000 victims, most women and children \u00a0\u2013 the problem is growing because of our major roadways, large agriculture and manufacturing base, immigration populations and major tourism.\n\tPlus, human trafficking is more lucrative than dealing drugs or guns because it\u2019s \u201can endless profit stream,\u201d said Lombardo. And the laws, which aren\u2019t nearly as stiff as drug penalties, don\u2019t deter traffickers, especially when they have such power over their often frightened and/or brainwashed victims.\n\tThe FBI is continuing to ratchet up its efforts to address this problem. But of the 470 agents in\u00a0Chicago, Lombardo noted, only a half dozen are assigned to this work.\n\tThat\u2019s why they depend on other service groups and the community for help.\n\tBell, who sees the human heartbreak personally through her work with World Relief, says it\u2019s up to each of us to keep our eyes and ears open to suspicious situations. That can be anything from massage parlor activity to\u00a0\u00a0young people showing up at our doors selling magazines or other products.\n\tAsk questions, she said. How did you hear about your job? Where do you come from? Where are you going? Do you have possession of you documents? Look them in the eyes she added. Do they seem afraid or uncomfortable?\n\t\u201cThe worst thing you can think,\u201d said\u00a0Bell, \u201cis that it does not happen here.\u201d\n\tAnd if you do have suspicions, dial the FBI hotline at 312-421-6700, prompt #2.\n\t\u201cIf you call and are wrong, said Agent Lombardo, \u201cwe will still say thank you.\u201d\n\tWhile Congress has been working to toughen laws that target the traffickers, these experts agreed there needs to be more refuge houses for victims once they are removed from the offender. Currently there are only 37 beds available in the Chicago area, they noted.\n\tThe FBI agentgs also called for more public exposure to the \u201cJohns\u201d \u2013 often they are educated professionals,\u00a0\u00a0and married with children \u2014 who keep demand high. \u00a0They strongly suggested doing away with the words \u2018Gentleman\u2019s Club\u201d and start plastering their faces on the front pages of newspapers. Public humiliation, they said, does make a huge difference.\n\tThe problem \u201cwill stop,\u201d said Williamson, \u201cif men stop buying sex.\u201d\n\tThe Human Trafficking Freedom Coalition of Northern Illinois is also working to improve collaboration among agencies, while also training frontline responders.\n\tAllen said her group\u2019s work with the McHenry County Board led to a stronger adult use ordinance, passed in October, that makes it more difficult for adult bookstores, strip clubs and other sexually-themed entertainment to set up shop in unincorporated areas. It\u2019s an ordinance she hopes will be a model for other counties to use.\n\tThe panel also discussed the importance of getting curriculums into local schools. \u00a0Social media, where so many youngsters hang out, is the number one tool of traffickers, Allen noted.\u00a0And once these vulnerable youth get sucked in, it\u2019s near impossible to get out.\n\tThey are used and abused, \u00a0the experts agreed, until they have lost their souls, and even their lives.\n\tWhile society is no longer skeptical about the prevalence of human trafficking, Hultgren said it\u2019s is still difficult to get people to hear the cries of these victims, most of whom go unnoticed.\n\t\u201cBut once you know about this,\u201d he added, \u201cyou can\u2019t go on living\u201d as before.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://hultgren.house.gov//newsroom/in-the-news/forum-discusses-human-trafficking-in-fox-valley"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.358113018795848, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}