Ohio is expected to launch the first-ever statewide human trafficking hotline later this year, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced at his office’s fifth annual Human Trafficking Summit held in downtown Columbus last week.
The statewide hotline number – 844-END-OHHT (844-363-6448) – will “funnel incoming tips on suspected sex and labor trafficking directly to law enforcement,” according to Yost’s office.
AG Yost today announced the first ever statewide human trafficking hotline during his opening remarks at the office’s fifth annual Human Trafficking Summit.
Details: https://t.co/szEvn6hOf1 pic.twitter.com/b09emn3xWH— Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (@OhioAG) August 7, 2024
The hotline is expected to launch before the end of the year.
“It’s simple: the more we know, the more we can do to help,” Yost said in a statement. “We need to keep pushing these efforts forward so that, every day, those who buy sex or compel another’s labor know that we’re coming for them.”
Yost’s announcement of the hotline came during his office’s Human Trafficking Summit held at the Hyatt Regency Columbus on August 7, which hosted more than 700 attendees and included 26 workshops with 55 presenters.
The annual summit is held to bring together “survivors, social workers, health-care professionals, law enforcement officers, lawyers, prosecutors, judges and other community stakeholders who are committed to ending sex and labor trafficking in Ohio,” Yost’s office explains.
The eventual rollout of Ohio’s human trafficking hotline will mark the first statewide hotline to exist in the U.S. aside from the national human trafficking hotline.
The national human trafficking hotline – of which number is 1-888-373-7888 – was created in 2007 and is run by the nonprofit, non-governmental organization Polaris, which is based in Washington, D.C.
The national hotline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and can be reached by phone, text, web chat, email, or web form in over 200 languages.
Since 2007, the national hotline has received about 432,902 communications, identifying 100,891 cases of human trafficking and 197,000 victims, according to its website.
In Ohio, the national hotline has received 12,953 signals from the state since its inception, identifying 3,630 cases and 6,825 victims.
– – –
Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Dave Yost” by Dave Yost.
