January is Human Trafficking Prevention Month . Government agencies , NGOs , businesses , and community partners all over the United States will bring attention to the issue through public events , trainings , media appearances , and social media . Defined as the use of force , fraud , or coercion to cause someone to engage in a commercial sex act or labor services ( coercion is not required in the case of minors ), human trafficking is often mistakenly considered an international issue primarily involving physical restraint , abduction , or kidnapping . The reality is , most victims are exploited by someone they knew

floridagenerallyranksthirdin thenumberofreportedhuman traffickingcases , andthetampa Bayareaisahotspotfor traffickingactivity . inotherwords , humantraffickingisoccurringin ourcommunitieseveryday .

prior to the trafficking , and very rarely does human trafficking involve abduction or kidnapping . While human trafficking is certainly an international issue , most victims in the U . S . are U . S . citizens .

Estimates of the number of human trafficking victims worldwide range from 26 million to 50 million depending on the source . Those statistics only tell part of the story , as researchers generally agree that incidents of human trafficking are grossly underreported , and most cases go unidentified . Florida generally ranks third in the number of reported human trafficking cases , and the Tampa Bay area is a hotspot for trafficking activity . In other words , human trafficking is occurring in our communities every day .

Beginning in 2012 , the Florida Legislature responded to the unique challenges of human trafficking by enacting important legal protections for victims and making prosecutions of traffickers easier . Among other things , the Legislature passed the Safe Harbor Act which provided that law enforcement must refer commercially sexually exploited

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HCBA Lawyer Magazine No. 34, Issue 3 | Page 62