Somewhere else??? NO!! RIGHT HERE!!!
“Calls and tips to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s human trafficking hotline have jumped more than 400% in recent years as public awareness grows.
“TBI’s human trafficking team received 1,291 hotline tips last year, up from 245 in 2016. The vast majority were for child sex trafficking, with more than 600 reports in 2022.”
Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking Report 2023
Human Trafficking is modern-day slavery, plain and simple. It happens here. And it has to stop.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is committed to understanding and fighting Human Trafficking. Our state has consistently been ranked among the best in the nation for its approach to this crime, as a growing number of advocates — from law enforcement to nonprofits to government agencies — have stepped up to play a part in the solution.
Consider the facts:
- In the United States, on average, every two minutes, a child is bought or sold for sex.
- The average age of a child sold for sex is 13 years old.
- Human Trafficking is the second-fastest growing criminal industry, just behind Drug Trafficking.
In recent years, the TBI commissioned several comprehensive studies in an attempt to better understand the issue in Tennessee.
- 2013: The Geography of Trafficking in Tennessee
- 2011: Tennessee Human Sex Trafficking & Its Impact on Children & Youth
In 2014, the TBI launched a public awareness campaign to inform the state about Human Trafficking, and more importantly, what can be done about it. Online, you’ll find more information, videos, warning signs, and a list of nonprofits committed to the fight in need of your support. Together, we believe we can put and to this kind of crime.
Suspect someone may be a victim of human trafficking? Call the Tennessee Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-855-55-TNHTH.
TBI Details Rising Reports of Human Trafficking in Tennessee
Posted by: Paul Burch on Dec 7, 2023
News Type: Legal News
A new Tennessee Bureau of Investigation report released this month shows calls and tips to the TBI’s human trafficking hotline have jumped more than 400% since 2016, reports the Tennessean. TBI’s human trafficking team received 1,291 hotline tips in 2023, up from 245 in 2016. The 10-page report provides a snapshot of how the TBI is working to address the issue.
Tennessee officials rescue 13 missing children at risk of being trafficked: ‘America’s ugly secret’
Authorities located 12 juvenile victims ranging from 11 to 17 years old, as well as one 2-month-old infant
By Audrey Conklin Fox NewsPublished November 13, 2023 4:00am EST
Federal and local officials have rescued 13 previously missing children, whom authorities determined to be at risk of human trafficking, in and around Memphis.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), which worked with the U.S. Marshals Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Memphis Police Department and Tennessee Department of Children’s Services on the two-day mission called “Operation Not for Sale,” said officials were focused on locating children at risk of being trafficked.
“There may be children coming from an environment where they have been sexually abused, previously, in their life. But that might be their norm,” Foster Care Institute founder and director, Dr. John DeGarmo, who works with child welfare agencies across the globe, told Fox News Digital when asked what makes a child at risk of being trafficked.
Those children may be coming from broken homes or foster care and “seek out love” elsewhere because they have not found it in their current lives. Those children can be easily “misled by predators” and “groomed” under false hopes and promises of better lives, DeGarmo said.
Police might identify these kinds of children based on their own records of families with histories of domestic violence or sexual abuse. They might identify children who have unique tattoos or bands, or even new and expensive clothing, according to DeGarmo.
In 2021, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received more than 17,200 reports of child sex trafficking from all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. They also received 25,000 reports of runaway children – with one of six likely to become human trafficking victims, according to the organization.
