Human Trafficking Talk at Zane State

Theresa Flores was a victim of human trafficking from the age of 15 to 17. Tuesday evening she spoke at Zane State College about her experience.

Along with her personal story, Flores focused on what exactly human trafficking is, the red flags of trafficking, and solutions for the problem. Flores tells us that she is working to spread awareness about this issue.

"People think human trafficking, they think of over seas, you never think gosh, Zanesville, Ohio" says Flores, "and we have had cases here and around here too. So it’s something that we just need to reeducate people."

Some of the statistics about local human trafficking are shocking. Cindy Brandi, a member of the Soroptimist International of Zanesville explained how prevalent trafficking is in Ohio.

"Ohio is 5th in the nation in trafficking, because we have such and intricate interstate system. Toledo is a hub of trafficking. You might not think of it that way but it is going on and the more aware people are, maybe we can stop stop this and save some of our young women."

To learn more about human trafficking and Flores’ story, you can go to SoroptimistInternational.org, Flore’s website TraffickFree.com or you can buy Flores’ book The Slave Across the Street.