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REGULAR MEETING January 28, 2019
<br /> who face the dangers of human trafficking; and, a Whereas,the true nature and extent of this crime
<br /> against helpless individuals is nothing less than staggering; and,Whereas,The Trafficking Victims
<br /> Protection Act of 2000 defines sex trafficking as, "a commercial sex act that is induced by force,
<br /> fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained eighteen
<br /> (18) years of age." Labor trafficking is defined as, "the recruitment, harboring, transportation,
<br /> provision,or obtaining of a person for labor or services,through the use of force,fraud,or coercion
<br /> for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery"; and,
<br /> Whereas, human trafficking is the fastest growing and second (2nd) largest criminal enterprise in
<br /> the world today, generating an estimated $150 billion dollars annually; and, Whereas, throughout
<br /> the world over 27 million people are exploited through human trafficking with an estimated
<br /> 300,000 American youths at risk of becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation with an
<br /> additional 14,500 to 17,500 humans trafficked into the United States annually;and,Whereas;these
<br /> numbers are just the tip of the iceberg due to underreporting and with the number of cases
<br /> increasing exponentially each year through the use of social media and the internet; and,Whereas,
<br /> South Bend and the surrounding areas are not safe from these dangers as shown by the recent
<br /> discovery and rescue of five (5) victims in southwest Michigan and the arrests of traffickers in
<br /> South Bend and Ft. Wayne in late 2017 as part of an FBI nationwide operation, which in a four
<br /> (4)-day period, rescued eighty-four (84) minors and arrested one hundred and twenty (120)
<br /> traffickers; and,Whereas,the youngest victim recovered in the FBI operation was three(3)months
<br /> old and the average age of the victims being fifteen (15).; and, Whereas, the children and young
<br /> adult victims are not just nameless and faceless unknowns, but include our sons, daughters,
<br /> grandchildren, nieces, nephews and the children playing outside next door; and, Whereas, it is no
<br /> longer enough to know "of' the problem, but now necessary to know "about" the problem by
<br /> independently seeking out information and, more importantly, when seeing anything that raises
<br /> suspicion, doing something to inform the proper authorities or agencies.
<br /> Councilmember Jake Teshka continued, Now, Therefore, be it resolved, by the Common Council
<br /> of the City of South Bend, Indiana, as follows: Section One (I) Human trafficking in any form is
<br /> morally reprehensible and contrary to our cherished freedoms. Section Two (II) Everyone has a
<br /> duty to do what is in their ability to end human trafficking and protect the victims. Section Three
<br /> (III) In addition to local and regional First(1St)Responders,the following are some of the resources
<br /> available to learn more or to take action: National Human Trafficking Hotline: 1-888-373-7888;
<br /> (TTY: 711); Text 233733; Indiana Attorney General:
<br /> https://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral/2963.htm; Indiana Trafficking Victim Assistance Program:
<br /> http://www.indysb.org/itvap; Polaris Project: https://polarisproject.org/; U.S. Department of
<br /> Homeland Security Blue Campaign: https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign; In Our Backyard:
<br /> http://inourbackyard.org/; Section Four(IV) This Resolution shall be in full force and effect from
<br /> after its adoption by the Common Council and approval by the Mayor.
<br /> Councilmember Jake Teshka went on, A couple of years ago, I stumbled upon the issue of human
<br /> trafficking, quite by accident, actually. A contemporary Christian music band that I like, For King
<br /> and Country, has taken up the fight and they are encouraging awareness all throughout the world
<br /> through their concerts, a song and a film aptly named Priceless. These were the catalysts that sent
<br /> me on a journey of learning and digging which has been a rollercoaster of discovery of both
<br /> nauseating facts and unrelenting hope. What I once believed was a problem that only affected third
<br /> (31-d) world nations, I found, was not only existent but prevalent, right here in the freest, most
<br /> prosperous nation on the planet. I know it has gained relatively little attention but there is a wealth
<br /> of information out there for those who dare scratch the surface. On February 2nd of last year, my
<br /> daughter was born. Having been the father of a young boy, the idea of raising a little girl was
<br /> completely foreign to me and I began to think about what the future held for her. I thought about
<br /> both the bright possibilities and the potential pitfalls. It was in that moment that I thought about
<br /> the roughly 200,000 cases of sexual exploitation of minors every year in the United States. Keep
<br /> in mind, that is an underreported statistic. The average age that is first (1St) trafficked ranges from
<br /> twelve (12) to fourteen (14) years old. I realized my solemn duty of a proud new father of a baby
<br /> girl is to do anything within my power to protect her and those like her in our community. So, I
<br /> dug in further and contacted various non-profits that focused on this issue to see what I can do. I
<br /> got ahold of organizations like In Our Backyard. They were founded and are led by Anita Bells
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