Upper Merion Hosts Sex Trafficking Presentation

According to the Department of Homeland Security, President Barack Obama declared January National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. 

According to The Times Herald, Rachael Yudt, chair of the Montgomery County Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition, and another coalition member spoke with resident at Upper Merion township building on Wednesday about the problem of human trafficking in our area.

One case specifically noted by the presenters was that of men who smuggled women into the U.S. from Mexico after fathering children with them. The children were held in Mexico while the women were forced into prostituion in America.

"We have done several cases in Norristown and Philadelphia," an unnamed coalition member told the group, according to the Herald. "They will rent out a house and put several girls in there. Everyone in the community knows what it is."

According to the Herald, sex-trafficking statistics include such disturbing figures as:

• The average age of a child forced into prostitution is 13.
• 100,000 children engage in prostitution every year in the U.S.

Find more statistics and read more about the sex-trafficking industry in our area here.