In the News

For updated news and information, sign up for our newsletter or check out our facebook page.

interview with moody radio

February 27th, 2013 - Communications Director, Sarah Amidon, talks to Nancy Turner on "This is the Day" about human trafficking in Chicagoland and what Traffick Free is doing to bring an end to it. Listen here.

CBS Chicago, 2/11 ::
"Twins First Convicted of Sex Trafficking in Illinois"

Twin brothers charged last year with forcing young women to perform sex acts for money in the south suburbs will be going to prison, the first people in Illinois convicted of human trafficking.

Tyrelle and Myrelle Lockett, 18, of Dolton, pleaded guilty Tuesday to Class 1 felony charges of trafficking of persons for forced labor or services, and were sentenced by Judge Frank Zelezinski to four years in prison, a release from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said.

Police arrested the brothers last year after an undercover operation revealed they were forcing young women, including one underage girl, to perform sex acts with men for money. As part of the operation, Cook County Sheriff’s officers met with Tyrelle Lockett at a Lansing motel after responding to an online ad... (continued)

Chicago Tribune, 11/10 ::
"Woman Charged with Human Trafficking"

An alleged madam regularly picked up a 16-year-old girl from her high school and drove her to a basement brothel to work until 8 or 9 p.m. a couple of days a week, authorities charged Wednesday.

Rubicela Montero forced the underage girls and other victims into prostitution and threatened them or their families with death if they quit, authorities said.

One girl called an anonymous hotline and tipped off Chicago police about the brothel in a Little Village basement apartment. Police set up a sting operation, sending in an undercover officer to pose as a client willing to pay for sex. Montero advertised in a Spanish-language newspaper, authorities said... (continued)

Washington Post, 06/09 ::
"Partnering Against Trafficking"

Twenty-year-old Oxana Rantchev left her home in Russia in 2001 for what she believed was a job as a translator in Cyprus. A few days later, she was found dead after attempting to escape the traffickers who tried to force her into prostitution.

Oxana's story is the story of modern slavery. Around the world, millions of people are living in bondage. They labor in fields and factories under threat of violence if they try to escape. They work in homes for families that keep them virtually imprisoned. They are forced to work as prostitutes or to beg in the streets. Women, men and children of all ages are often held far from home with no money, no connections and no way to ask for help. They discover too late that they've entered a trap of forced labor, sexual exploitation and brutal violence. The United Nations estimates that at least 12 million people worldwide are victims of trafficking. Because they often live and work out of sight, that number is almost certainly too low. More than half of all victims of forced labor are women and girls, compelled into servitude as domestics or sweatshop workers or, like Oxana, forced into prostitution. They face not only the loss of their freedom but also sexual assaults and physical abuses.

To some, human trafficking may seem like a problem limited to other parts of the world. In fact, it occurs in every country, including the United States, and we have a responsibility to fight it just as others do... (continued)

facts

Human Trafficking in Illinois Fact Sheet (download)

movies to watch

Sex+Money: A National Search for Human Worth

Sex+Money is a documentary about domestic minor sex trafficking and the modern-day abolitionist movement fighting to stop it. Since September 2009, the crew has traveled to over 30 states and conducted more than 75 interviews with federal agents, victims, politicians, activists, psychologists, porn stars, among others. (trailer)

Very Young Girls

Very Young Girls is an exposé of the commercial sexual exploitation of girls in New York City as they are sold on the streets by pimps, and treated as adult criminals by police. (trailer)

Trade

13 year-old child is taken from Mexico City. She ends up in New Jersey on an internet sex slave. (trailer)

Taken

Kim, an American college girl, is abducted while visiting a friend in Paris. She is taken into underground sex slavery in Paris. (trailer)

Call + Response

Documentary that reveals that there are more slaves today than in human history. Features child brothels in Cambodia and India. Includes performances by many of today's high profile music artists. (trailer)

Holly

Set in Cambodia, depicts child prostitution between Holly, a beautiful 12-year-old Vietnamese girl, and Patrick, an obsessive 40-year-old. (trailer)

Lives for Sale

A one-hour investigative documentary exposes the painful,rarely seen human side of illegal immigration - including the growing black market trade in human beings. (trailer)

Born Into Brothels

Documentary that unfolds in the red-light district of Calcutta. Briski gets involved in the lives of the children by teaching the basics of photography, which becomes a creative outlet for the kids.

Branded

A documentary that specifically focuses on the commercial sex trade in Phoenix, AZ