A joint task force has been formed in eastern Missouri to eliminate a new form of slavery. Federal, state, and local agencies are cooperating to eliminate trafficking in human beings. Missouri is one of the few states with a law against it. The federal government also has a law. The Federal Prosecutor for Eastern Missouri, James Martin, says the victims are often poor, unemployed people who are forced, defrauded, or coerced into labor or sexual exploitation. He says it’s a brutal life typified by fear and cases are being found more and more. Martin says people in various human services agencies are the ones most likely to spot one of these victims who will need special care when they’re freed of their traffickers. No similar task force has been established in western Missouri yet. Martin says the Justice Department is going district by district, one at a time, to set them up.
