Sex trafficking enslaves millions of people around the world, with thousands in the United States, including children, a panel of experts agreed as they talked about the need for better training for police and educators to help the victims.
The youngest victim ensnared in a sex trafficking ring in the state was a 12-year-old, said Krishna Patel, deputy chief of the National Security and Major Crimes Unit in the U.S. attorney’s office in the state.
“We have a huge domestic trafficking problem,” Patel said as she joined a panel of advocates Monday who deal daily with the child victims.
They met at the new offices of Love 146 in New Haven, a group that worked to help international victims, but since 2010 has been running education programs and trauma-informed support services with offices Baltimore and Houston, as well as New Haven.
