Credit: Amanda Kuehnle/LevittownNow.com
Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-8) and representatives from the Department of Homeland Security are passionate about ending the global issue that is human trafficking.
Fitzpatrick as well as Scott Santoro from the Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign project met with community members and college students from Holy Family University’s Newtown campus on Thursday in honor of January’s Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
Advertisements
The conference style agenda which featured speeches from both Santoro and Fitzpatrick, also featured a 40 minute case study project that taught the audience how to evaluate and analyze typical situations that may in fact be human trafficking related. All of those involved were adamant that human trafficking does not discriminate, and that it can be an issue even in a place like Bucks County.
The department as part of their Blue Campaign have worked with law enforcement, the Department of Transportation, Department of Education, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the military, the motor coach industry and the airline industry in conducting training exercises so employees can better recognize when the tragic issue happens around them.
According to statistics provided by the Department of Homeland Security, the industry, which is second only to drug trafficking as the most profitable form of transnational crime, effects more than 20 million victims worldwide. Those victims can be involved in prostitution, domestic servitude, even forced labor situations.
Advertisements
“It’s hard to believe we are still, in the 21st century, raising funds for this,” said Fitzpatrick to the crowd. According to the congressman, it’s an issue that although relevant, doesn’t get the attention it deserves.
“Education is something that needs to happen with human trafficking,” he said. “Sometimes the signs are there, the signals are there, and we don’t notice them.”
Advertisements
Human trafficking, estimated by the department to be somewhere between a $32 and $150 billion industry, saw some attention this past week in the House; including the passing of 12 acts of legislation, seven of which were co-sponsored by Fitzpatrick. The congressman said he’s hopeful they will see the same amount of attention in the Senate.
Fitzpatrick, who is serving his fourth and last term in the House, is both a member of the Human Trafficking Task Force and the Congressional Human Trafficking Caucus.
