Is this article for real?!?! Can someone tell me where they got the statistic that one in three middle school children are being targeted for sex trafficking?
Story by Jonathan Beaton/CBS12 News
WEST PALM BEACH (CBS12) — Violence, threats, terror and lies are just some of the ways officials say sex traffickers are targeting South Florida children and we’ve learned the problem is only getting worse.
A CBS 12 investigation found one of every three South Florida middle school kids are now a target for sex trafficking.
It’s a bone chilling statistic that’s sure to send terror down the spine of parents throughout the Sunshine State.
It’s figures like these that have the National Council of Jewish Women, who are partnering with anti sex trafficking organizations, working fast to try to stomp out this modern day slavery in hotspots across the U.S.
“We have some major airports and ports, we have major highways that can transport children and adult victims up and down the state,” said Linda Geller-Schwartz.
With that knowledge, Geller-Schawartz is now more determined than ever to put an end to this epidemic in a state that ranks third in the nation in human trafficking.
“There’s recruitment in the schools, middle and high schools, in the malls. Kids hanging out in the malls don’t know who they’re talking to.”
Geller-Schwartz said the Florida House of Representatives is keeping a close eye on this disturbing trend and watching a new law aimed at helping victims.
No word yet if more is going to be done during the upcoming spring legislative session.
A CBS 12 investigation found one of every three South Florida middle school kids are now a target for sex trafficking
So are 1 in 3 middle school students in south fl run aways? if so they have a much greater issue at hand > The question is why?
One out of three children who run away is trafficked within 48 hours,” she said. “It’s a $32 billion industry across the world.”
A CBS 12 investigation found one of every three South Florida middle school kids are now a target for sex trafficking
About 17,500 to 20,000 victims are trafficked into the U.S. annually, with Florida receiving a high percentage of those victims, along with New York and California, according to FNOW.