Pasco Human Trafficking In Spotlight During Light Up the Night

WESLEY CHAPEL, FL – The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office and Bridging Freedom are hosting an event this weekend to help shine a light on human trafficking.

Light Up the Night, an annual event, looks to help raise awareness of human trafficking and present personal stories from people who were able to escape the life of a trafficking victim. This year’s events will take place on Saturday, Jan. 14 at Wiregrass Ranch.

The activities begin at 4 p.m. with a 5K Run/Walk and a 1-mile walk at the Pasco-Hernando State College Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch. The entry fee is $45 at the door, and all proceeds will be donated to help victims of human trafficking.

Light Up the Night then moves to the upper level of the parking deck at The Shops at Wiregrass, where an award ceremony will take place for the races at 5:15. Then from 6 to 9 p.m., the event will feature food, a children’s area plus a concert featuring Shalyah Fearing and Thanecha Anderson.

The event will end with guest speakers and a candlelight vigil.

What is Human Trafficking?

“Here in this country, people are being bought, sold, and smuggled like modern-day slaves, often beaten, starved, and forced to work as prostitutes or to take jobs as migrant, domestic, restaurant, or factory workers with little or no pay,” the FBI explains on its website.

The FBI says human trafficking cases in the United States tend to fall into four different investigative areas:

• Domestic sex trafficking of adults – This involves adults who are compelled to engage in commercial sex acts, generally through force, fraud or coercion
• Sex trafficking of international adults and children – This involves foreign nationals who are brought into the country for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts
• Forced labor – This type of trafficking involves American citizens or foreign nationals who are made to perform work through force or coercion
• Domestic servitude – Trafficking of this type involves forcing or coercing citizens or foreign nationals to perform domestic work for households or families

Human trafficking has been in the news around the Pasco County area this week as well as over the past few years thanks to the Clearwater/Tampa Bay Area Task Force On Human Trafficking.

Just this past week, two Pasco County adult entertainment businesses were fined for not being in compliance with the county’s new human traffic ordinance. The law mandates that all adult establishments must have signage on the bathroom doors of every female bathroom and dressing rooms that includes phone numbers and resources for people who feel they may be victims of human trafficking.

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline website, Florida has ranked third in the nation for the number of human trafficking cases reported every year since 2012.there were 410 reported cases in the state in 2016.

However, members or the Clearwater/Tampa Bay Area Task Force On Human Trafficking have said Florida’s high numbers are a product of the law enforcement's success in encouraging people to report any suspicious activities.

Major David Dalton of the Clearwater Police Department said while not every tip may lead to a bona fide case, they remain important to law enforcement.

“We’ve almost always developed these cases through informants or citizen tips,” he said.

Human trafficking related tips can be called into local law enforcement agencies directly. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center also has a 24-hour-a-day hotline available at 1-888-373-7888.

For more information about Light Up the Night, visit http://www.lightupthenighttampabay.com/.

Image via Shutterstock