Recently, two speeches, including one by a Marquette professor, called attention to the issue of human trafficking.

Richard Friman, professor of political science, addressed the issue in his lecture "Human Trafficking and the Politics of Human Rights" Wednesday night.

"Trafficking is often thought of as an enforcement issue where the human rights of victims is lost," Friman said. "We're not looking as hard as we should or could into this human rights issue."

In October 2004, at the John P. Raynor, S.J., Library, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the implementation of the Rescue and Restore Campaign.

The campaign's focus is to identify, protect and support victims of human trafficking . The campaign has 1,000 member organizations and is established in 19 cities . The campaign will expand to include 25 cities in the next three years .

Finding victims and traffickers is difficult because many states lack the capability to curtail international crime such as trafficking, Friman said.

According to the State Department, an estimated 800,000 to 900,000 victims are trafficked annually across international borders. Between 18,000 and 20,000 of those victims are trafficked across U.S. borders.

An estimated 80 percent of trafficking victims are female because many trafficking victims are captured for the sex trade, Friman said.

On Tuesday, the Greater Milwaukee Rescue & Restore Coalition sponsored a rally called "Human Trafficking: A Call to Action."

"There is no doubt that trafficking for sex, slavery and servitude is one of the most base forms of oppression," said James Hiller, chairman of the Greater Milwaukee Rescue & Restore Coalition .

The coalition, established last year, has 65 member organizations, according to Mary Jo Joyce, spokeswoman for the coalition .

The coalition established a hotline to respond to possible human trafficking concerns.

"In the last 18 months, 36 calls to the hotline have been from Milwaukee," Joyce said.

Joyce said the coalition establishes a partnership among health care, charity and other service providers and law enforcement.

U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic, a speaker at the event , said the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 focused on three main actions, including new protections for trafficking victims, stronger punishment for perpetrators and civil remedies.

In 2004, there were 40 criminal prosecutions for trafficking in the United States, Biskupic said.

Biskupic said $180,000 has been budgeted to the Milwaukee Police Department to enhance recognition between victims and perpetrators.

Anne Bissell, founder of Voices for Justice-Sex Industry Survivors , spoke at the event.

Bissell, a sex industry survivor, said the sex industry infiltrates every aspect of society.

"The real danger with the sex industry is that the people who run it are very organized," Bissell said. "We need to be organized. We need to be as smart as they are."

Bissell said strip clubs, escort services and massage parlors are sex trafficking hot spots. Those establishments are all a part of what she calls the "sex industry matrix."

"It's (trafficking) there, but we often don't want to see it," she said.

Diane Knight, executive director of the Milwaukee chapter of Catholic Charities , said the victims of trafficking are a prime population for Catholic Charities outreach.

"Part of our core values is to give preferential option for the poor and vulnerable," Knight said.

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 13, 2005.