Latest news with #childtrafficking
The Sun
16 hours ago
- The Sun
Inside brutal ‘baby farms' where kidnapped girls as young as 13 are raped until pregnant & tots sold to desperate Brits
CAGED inside filthy, cramped buildings in Nigeria, pregnant teenagers cradle their swollen stomachs, knowing their babies will be ripped from their arms the moment they're born. The girls - watched closely by gunmen to ensure they don't escape - were kidnapped off the streets then brought to these hellholes to be repeatedly raped until they fell pregnant. 20 20 20 Their journey to motherhood is nothing short of horrific - with some girls fed just one meal a day, given poor medical care, and sexually abused by their captors while heavily pregnant. And their trauma will only intensify once their babies are born, as the defenceless infants are flogged to desperate infertile couples - allegedly including Brits - and child trafficking rings. Newborns from Nigerian 'baby factories' are reportedly being sold for as little as £60 - and as much as £2,000 - on the black market, with in-demand boys attracting a 'premium' price. Just this month, a family court in Leeds heard the case of a 'very young' baby who was brought in from Nigeria by a woman who was not their biological mother, and has now been put up for adoption. The case follows that of another baby brought unlawfully from Nigeria, who was taken in by social services in Manchester, amid fears that children from 'baby factories' are being trafficked to Britain. But, while they may never know their real mothers, they are perhaps among the lucky ones. Those babies not purchased by international or domestic couples, who claim them as their own, are used as child labour. Others are trafficked to Western nations as sex slaves. And for a few, their fate is even worse - with reports of infants being sacrificed in sick rituals. Experts tell The Sun that Nigeria's baby trafficking trade is 'lucrative', with an estimated 10 children sold each day - while their violated young mothers are left with empty arms. 'Infants are sold into black-market adoptions, domestic servitude, or trafficked into countries like the UK,' says Jared Navarre, Chairman of the Board of Project AK-47, a strategic humanitarian initiative that fights to free children enslaved and exploited globally. 'Some are moved on forged documents. 'Others are smuggled in under the radar and are never registered, and never found.' He adds: 'These factories exist because there's a market for human lives.' 20 20 20 As for the fate of the babies' mothers - some, who didn't die in childbirth the first time, are impregnated, again and again, with their newborns callously torn from them each time. When their depraved captors consider them no longer useful, the 'luckier' girls are freed - reportedly, with blindfolds on, so they can't locate the factories they were held at. Those less fortunate are never seen again. 'They're raped systematically and impregnated as part of the business model,' says Jared. 'They're not patients. They're inventory.' 20 20 20 Last week, it was reported that a woman living in West Yorkshire had flown to Nigeria before returning to Gatwick Airport with a 'very young' baby girl that she hadn't birthed. The woman, who was arrested, claimed she was the baby's biological mother, according to the BBC. However, tests showed 'no genetic link' to either the woman or her husband. The Leeds court heard that the baby had suffered "significant emotional and psychological harm" after her 'parents' lied and handed the authorities fake documents. A judge ordered that the girl - who, tragically, may never know the identities of her real parents - be placed for adoption. Police said there was no active investigation at present. A specialist social worker, who visited the medical centre where the mother alleged she had given birth, told the court the practice of "baby farming" is well known in West Africa. At least 200 illegal "baby factories" have been shut down by the Nigerian authorities in the last five years, she said. Promised 'easy money' 20 20 But such concerns aren't entirely new: in 2012, a High Court judge raised fears about 'desperate childless parents' becoming involved in baby-selling scams in Africa. Disguised as maternity clinics and orphanages, 'baby factories' plague south-eastern Nigeria - which has the dark reputation of being a major African country in human trafficking. Fuelled by poverty, heavy social pressure on women to bear children, and a stigma around teen pregnancy, these heinous sites have been described as 'puppy mills for people'. They have even inspired the recent Netflix series, Baby Farm. The girls at these 'factories' - some, just 14 - have either been recruited while pregnant with false promises of 'easy money', or have been kidnapped, raped and impregnated. 'Some come in already pregnant. Most don't,' says Jared. Forced to sell their babies 20 20 One survivor - who was already pregnant - told Al Jazeera that she was lured to a 'baby factory' by a woman who claimed she owned a home for young expectant mothers. But when she got there, the girl said the woman demanded to buy her unborn baby. 'I was really afraid and I was scared,' said the 19-year-old, who was held captive. She added that some imprisoned teens tried to kill themselves, while others staged escape attempts. 'I was among the ones who tried to escape, but there was no way,' she said. Human trafficking expert Joanna Ewart-James says some pregnant girls are 'coerced' into going to 'factories' through poverty, 'seeing no financial option other than to sell their baby'. 'Many young women are afraid to tell their families they are pregnant,' Joanna, co-founder of the US-based non-profit organisation, Freedom United, tells us. 'And without access to abortion and antenatal care, some are drawn to baby-sellers who keep them hidden - and captive - until the baby is born.' She adds of the infants involved: "The commodification - the buying and selling - of children and newborn babies is horrific because of their inability to defend themselves.' Abortion is illegal in Nigeria - where up to one million people each year are thought to be trafficked. Pregnancies can only be terminated to save the life of the mother. Another survivor, then 16, wasn't pregnant when a woman, known as 'Aunty Kiki', lured her from an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp to the Nigerian state of Enugu. Promised a job as a housemaid, with a monthly salary, the teen was transported to a compound guarded by gunmen, where a man allegedly ordered her to strip then raped her. 'The compound had two flats of three bedrooms each filled with young girls, some of them pregnant,' the teen - who would go on to suffer daily abuse - told Al Jazeera. Within weeks of being caged at the compound, the girl was pregnant. Yet she was still raped. 'It doesn't matter whether you are six weeks or six months pregnant,' said another girl who was impregnated at the compound. 'If any of the men wants you, you can't say no.' The two girls from the compound both delivered baby boys, who were snatched from them. The infants were sold to unknown customers, for unknown sums - though they likely drew a heftier price because they were male. Traditionally, in Nigeria, boys inherit land. 'Cryptic pregnancy doctors' 20 20 Lori Cohen, CEO of children's rights organisation Protect All Children from Trafficking (PACT), says that, in patriarchal societies like Nigeria, 'rigid gender roles continue to shape the cultural norms by placing a premium on fertility, and particularly boy babies'. So-called 'cryptic pregnancy doctors' in Nigeria prey on this pressure to conceive. Their cruel scams - which 'guarantee' couples a pregnancy - operate alongside 'baby factories'. In such scams, Nigerian couples longing to be parents fork out hundreds of pounds on 'miracle' fertility treatment - including injections that reportedly cause the woman's stomach to bloat. The 'doctors' administering the treatment promise the woman that she is pregnant - news she has, often, waited years to hear - despite medical scans and tests proving otherwise. As the 'birth' nears, the couple is told they must pay for an expensive drug to induce labour. But this is not always available imminently - because the 'drug' is, in fact, a trafficked baby. While waiting for this 'drug', women have reported being up to 15 months 'pregnant'. Ify Obinabo, Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs & Social Welfare, told a BBC Africa Eye documentary: 'Cryptic pregnancy cannot exist without child trafficking. Anybody that tells you [that] you will have a child through cryptic pregnancy is a liar… you are going to be given another person's child, a trafficked child. Ify Obinabo, Anambra State Commissioner for Women Affairs & Social Welfare 'Anybody that tells you [that] you will have a child through cryptic pregnancy is a liar… you are going to be given another person's child, a trafficked child.' One Nigerian-trained diagnostic sonographer, who dubs herself 'The Celebrity Sonographer', recently told of how a woman ended up with 'three cryptic babies'. Taking to Facebook, the sonographer, based in London, explained that the devastated woman had been convinced that she'd carried and given birth to her children. However, DNA tests had refuted this. For each birth, the woman had reportedly been called up by a hospital in Nigeria - which has reportedly since closed down - and told it was 'time for her to deliver'. 'She was not allowed to come with anyone,' wrote the sonographer. 'Once she arrives, they will make her sleep and when she wakes up, her baby will be by her side and that was how she gave birth to the three.' She added: 'It dawned on me that they had probably made her sleep to give her other people's children.' Some experts claim that 'local corruption' in Nigeria helps 'baby factories' to thrive. 'They operate because they're profitable, protected, and low-risk for the people running them,' says Jared. 'Local corruption shields them. International demand fuels them.' He adds: 'There's no meaningful consequence for either.' Nigerian cops have previously cracked down on such 'factories' through raids and arrests, with 22 pregnant women, aged between 20 and 25, rescued from one site in 2023. In 2021, four pregnant girls were saved from a 'factory' in Anambra, while, in 2019, police in the nation's biggest city, Lagos, freed 19 women and girls as well as four babies. Most of the survivors in Lagos - brought there from the states of Rivers, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Abia and Imo - had been kidnapped and impregnated by their captors. 'The young women were mostly abducted by the suspects for the purpose of getting them pregnant and selling the babies to potential buyers,' Lagos police spokesman Bala Elkana told Reuters at the time, adding that the victims had been 'tricked' with employment offers. 'Orphanage trafficking' 20 20 A year earlier, more than 160 children had been rescued from a 'baby factory' and two unregistered orphanages in the same city, which is known for its beach resorts and nightlife. Horrifically, some of the infants had been sexually abused, an official told the BBC in 2018. They were later placed in government-approved homes. According to Joanna, so-called 'orphanage trafficking' is ongoing in parts of Africa, with British volunteers becoming unknowing participants in such exploitation. 'Used to attract donations from abroad, poor parents in countries like Uganda or Cambodia are convinced that their child will be given an education,' she tells us. 'Instead, they are placed in an orphanage to attract money from well-meaning volunteers travelling in their gap year.' Meanwhile, in southern Nigeria, some women drug and 'rent' their young children out to street beggars, according to a 2018 trafficking report by the U.S. Department of State. They do this to increase the beggar's profits, with passersby feeling pity for the child. But, in at least one case, an infant died from a drug overdose. Even for the children who survive trafficking, the consequences are 'irreversible'. Referring to the infants sold by 'baby factory beasts', Irina Tsukerman, a New York-based human rights and national security lawyer, tells us: 'They are deprived of their identities, disconnected from their biological families, and placed into lives constructed on deception. 'Their legal status may remain ambiguous. 'Their access to education, healthcare, and social protection may be compromised. 'The psychological harm of being trafficked as a commodity is compounded by the systemic erasure of their origins.' She adds: 'For the mothers who survive these 'factories', the loss is equally profound. They [mothers] are left to contend with the trauma of forced pregnancy, the disappearance of their child, and the social isolation that often follows Irina Tsukerman 'They are left to contend with the trauma of forced pregnancy, the disappearance of their child, and the social isolation that often follows.' While Nigerian police continue to raid 'factories' - with suspects facing a reported 10 years behind bars - the UK government has restricted adoptions from Nigeria in recent years. Border Force officers are trained to identify and safeguard children who could be in danger. But experts insist more action must be taken against the buyers, and sellers, of 'factory' babies. 'As with other forms of human trafficking, forced harvesting of children only exists because of the underlying demand that makes this crime so profitable,' says Lori. 'Eliminating the demand for stolen babies by holding buyers accountable, in addition to these vile child brokers, is the surest way to shutter the doors of these criminal networks.' 20 20
Russia Today
6 days ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
How the Epstein saga exposed a system built on silence
In an age where every celebrity meltdown or presidential tantrum is livestreamed, where partisan jabs flood timelines within seconds, and where outrage is algorithmically amplified to viral proportions, one might assume that the most heinous crimes – especially those committed against the most vulnerable – would dominate media discourse. Yet the opposite is true. Global child trafficking, particularly when it implicates oligarchs, elite institutions, humanitarian organizations, and religious authorities, remains one of the most underreported, diluted, and actively suppressed issues across both mainstream and alternative media ecosystems. The selective silence is not accidental as it is designed to shield power from scrutiny while feigning moral concern. Take the decades-long cover-up of Jimmy Savile's crimes in Britain. For years, the BBC and the broader British establishment, including members of the royal family, ignored, enabled, or even protected a prolific predator in their midst. Keir Starmer, now prime minister, has faced longstanding accusations that he obstructed investigations into Savile's network during his tenure as head of the Crown Prosecution Service. Instead of truth and accountability, Britain witnessed institutional inertia and elite protectionism. Across the Atlantic, things are no better. US President Donald Trump – whose populist rise partly hinged on 'draining the swamp' and exposing elite pedophile rings – recently declared that there is 'nothing to see' in the Jeffrey Epstein files. He even dismissed ongoing public concern about the case as 'stupid.' This abrupt reversal betrayed many who viewed Epstein's exposure as a gateway to unraveling deeper systemic rot. Except for hardcore MAGA grifters and the 'compromised cohort', nobody bought Trump's deflections this time around. MIT scholar and activist Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai recently issued a single, scathing tweet – linked here – sharing FBI and DOJ files which contradicted Trump's words. These were not conspiracy breadcrumbs but official documents, offering a damning appetizer for anyone willing to dig deeper. But legacy media will ignore it, and alternative influencers will likely pivot to more 'monetizable' culture-war topics. Curiously, the Democratic Party – always eager to weaponize Trump's prevarications – remained suspiciously muted on the subject. The reason is not hard to fathom. America's political establishment functions as a duopoly. Republican or Democrat, both parties have skeletons in the same basement. When it comes to institutional crimes against children, mutual silence becomes a form of mutual protection. At one point, the hashtag #PedoPete – referring to then-President Joe Biden – trended briefly on Twitter. Today, the trend has flipped: #PedoTrump now circulates with greater, more sustained intensity. These hashtags may sound juvenile, but they reflect the fact that both sides of the political divide are equally compromised. When elite crimes threaten to break through media filters, the duopoly instinctively closes ranks. This is not just a media failure. It is a civilizational failure. The refusal to investigate, question, or even discuss the abuse of children by people in power suggests that, despite all our technological progress, we remain governed by the same feudal reflexes which protect the nobility, silence the peasants, and punish the whistleblowers. That so few journalists, influencers, or institutions dare to speak plainly about this issue is not due to lack of evidence. It is due to a lack of will. The media's silence is not benign; rather, it is complicity by omission. And increasingly, even independent platforms mirror the same herd behavior: Mainstream mimics mainstream; conspiracy mimics conspiracy. Viral outrage loops endlessly, but the hard questions go unasked. In an attention economy driven by clicks and tribal confirmation, there's little incentive to tackle issues that require long attention spans, moral courage, or cross-partisan inquiry. And so, the real stories – the ones involving systemic abuse, elite immunity, and generational trauma – remain locked in the basement of our public consciousness. The question is no longer whether the truth is out there. It is whether we are still capable of seeking it. According to the International Labor Organization, nearly 1.7 million children are victims of commercial sexual exploitation worldwide. (I believe this number to be grossly underreported). The figure does not include forced labor, child marriages, and trafficking under the guise of 'adoption' or 'rescue'. These crimes often occur in the shadows, but the silence surrounding them is deafening, especially considering the alleged involvement of trusted institutions like the UN, NGOs, and faith-based charities. In 2017, leaked internal UN reports and whistleblower testimonies revealed a disturbing pattern of sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers in several African countries, notably the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Victims were children – orphaned, impoverished, and completely powerless. These revelations barely made headlines beyond a few days of fleeting, dissembled horror. There was no sustained investigation, no sweeping reckoning. The UN promised reforms, but follow-up reporting was minimal. And today, those same peacekeeping structures continue to operate with minimal public scrutiny. What happened to the Syrian children who disappeared during the years the West, Israel, Türkiye, and Global Jihad Inc. waged war on Bashar Assad? There were disturbing allegations that US intelligence had recruited children as suicide bombers for its jihadist proxies, some of whom were also accused of harvesting the organs of over 18,000 minors. So is it any wonder that Trump – who once vowed to defeat 'radical Islamic terror' – personally lavished praise on Syria's new president and jihadist war criminal extraordinaire Ahmed al-Sharaa? There is perhaps no greater moral shield for crimes against children than the Trojan Horse of charity. Some of the most egregious trafficking networks operate under the halo of humanitarian work. In Haiti, multiple investigations have revealed how certain orphanages and foreign-run NGOs were fronts for abuse and trafficking. In India and Nepal, similar patterns emerged: Western 'voluntourists' and missionaries gain access to vulnerable children under the pretext of aid, only to become conduits for exploitation. Mother Teresa's charity organization itself was linked to child trafficking networks spanning India to Haiti. Stories like these are often relegated to obscure human rights blogs or independent journalists with limited reach. Beholden to the same donor networks and oligarchic interests, the mainstream press simply looks away. While the AI boom dominates headlines in terms of productivity and existential risk, almost no major outlet has dared to delve into how generative AI tools are being used to create photorealistic child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The dark web is rife with communities exchanging AI-generated images, bypassing existing legal frameworks which often only address real photographic evidence. This raises disturbing questions: What constitutes child abuse imagery in the age of AI? How will law enforcement adapt? And why is no one talking about it? The tech platforms developing these tools are often mum about their misuse. Regulatory agencies are slow, and public debate is nearly non-existent. The media, meanwhile, prefers to debate AI replacing screenwriters rather than protecting children. In fact, AI parodies of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza are more likely to get censored than child sexual abuse material. The Epstein case should have shattered any illusions about elite immunity. A convicted sex offender with connections to presidents, royalty, and top scientists managed to operate a trafficking network for years – even after his initial conviction. His mysterious 'death in custody' convinced no one with two functioning brain cells. His co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, was convicted. Yet not a single client has been named in court. Rather than igniting systemic media scrutiny into elite involvement in trafficking, the Epstein saga has been conveniently bracketed as an anomaly or relegated to conspiracy land. But it was never just about Epstein. Similar scandals have emerged in the UK (the VIP child abuse ring), in Hollywood (Dan Schneider and Nickelodeon), and within religious institutions across continents. While the media has been reduced to a recycled echo chamber, the lesson bears repeating: The elite criminal class continues to get away with crimes against children with impunity. The hashtag #ArrestObama is trending before another sensationalist deflection takes over. What next? A few carefully scripted jabs at Benjamin Netanyahu to regain credibility with disillusioned MAGA voters? The decentralization of news via social media was expected to fill in vital gaps in mainstream reports. To some extent, it has. Survivors, whistleblowers, and independent researchers have found platforms to speak out. Hashtags like #SaveTheChildren briefly trended. But these moments are fleeting. The attention span of social media is short, and the billionaire owners of these platforms are inextricably linked to various elite pedophile networks. A 2024 meta-analysis by the University of Edinburgh estimated 302 million children (1 in 8 globally) experienced online sexual abuse annually, with platforms like Facebook serving as vectors for exploitation. Earlier, in 2020, Facebook accounted for around 20 million child sexual abuse material reports, constituting nearly 95% of all incidents submitted through its systems. By comparison, Google logged 500,000, Snapchat 150,000, and Twitter just 65,000. Serious discussions are also often hijacked by fringe accounts, QAnon-style disinformation, or bad-faith actors. As a result, the issue itself becomes tainted via guilt by association. Even legitimate stories and investigations are dismissed because they were shared by someone with suspect affiliations. This is a classic tactic perfected by the likes of the CIA and Mossad. The cost of media complicity in the face of global child trafficking is not just journalistic failure; it is moral collapse. The ongoing crimes against children is a human story of betrayal, of complicity, and of the innocent lives that are shattered while the world scrolls on.
Associated Press
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Entrepreneur Paul Hutchinson Attends Screening to Spotlight Fight Against Child Sexual Exploitation
Paul Hutchinson, founder of the Child Liberation Foundation, Attended Free a Girl / Deadline Screening in West Hollywood on July 19, 2025. NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, July 22, 2025 / / -- Paul Hutchinson, entrepreneur, humanitarian, and founder of the Child Liberation Foundation, was among the invited guests at an exclusive screening hosted by Free a Girl in partnership with Deadline on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at The London Hotel in West Hollywood. The powerful evening showcased never-before-seen footage from actress, entrepreneur, and Free a Girl founder Yolanthe Cabau's undercover mission to rescue children from sexual exploitation. Guests—including Paul Hutchinson, along with actresses Tara Reid and Jaime King—walked the red carpet before attending the private screening, followed by a live Q&A with Yolanthe and the Free a Girl team, and a VIP reception. Hutchinson's presence highlighted his unwavering commitment to ending child trafficking. As founder of the Child Liberation Foundation, he has led or played a critical role in over 70 undercover rescue operations across 15 countries, helping free more than 7,000 children. He also served as the primary investor and Executive Producer of the critically acclaimed film Sound of Freedom. His forthcoming book, The Sound of Freedom: True Stories That Inspired the Film (releasing July 29, 2025), offers a behind-the-scenes look at the real-life missions and courageous survivors who inspired the film. For media inquiries, interview requests, or to receive a review copy of Paul Hutchinson's upcoming book, please contact: Judy Welage [email protected] 917-697-9838 Judy Welage Leverage with Media + 19176979838 email us here Visit us on social media: LinkedIn Instagram Other Legal Disclaimer: EIN Presswire provides this news content 'as is' without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
South China Morning Post
13-07-2025
- South China Morning Post
‘Monster' China mum sells sons for US$11,600 to tip live-streaming hosts, buy clothes
A mother in China has sparked public outrage after it was revealed that she sold her two biological sons to fund tips for live-streaming hosts. Advertisement The errant mother even went as far as deliberately conceiving the second child solely for the purpose of selling it. Huang, 26, is originally from Guangxi province in southern China and only has a primary school education. She later moved to Fuzhou, Fujian province, in southeastern China and made a living doing odd jobs. Young mother Huang was reported to the authorities for suspected fraud in April. Photo: CCTV Reports suggest that Huang was an adopted child and, due to her lack of education and care from her adoptive parents, left home at an early age.
Fox News
23-06-2025
- Fox News
Florida's Operation Dragon Eye rescues dozens of ‘critically missing' children in massive sting
Dozens of children were rescued in a blow to child sex trafficking operations in Florida, officials announced Monday. Dubbed Operation Dragon Eye, the initiative was spearheaded by the U.S. Marshals Office for the Central District of Florida and supported by the state Attorney General James Uthmeier's Office of Statewide Prosecution (OSP). The effort involved 20 agencies working in tandem to locate 60 critically missing children and apprehend suspects tied to trafficking, drugs and child endangerment. "The real heroes behind this operation are the law enforcement who built and executed this mission," Uthmeier said in a release. "As your Attorney General and a father of three young kids, protecting children is my top priority. If you victimize children, you're going to prison, end of story." Authorities said the recovered children ranged in age from 9 to 17, and many of them were missing and at risk of being exploited. The U.S. Marshals Service defines "critically missing" children as "those at risk of crimes of violence or those with other elevated risk factors such as substance abuse, sexual exploitation, crime exposure or domestic violence." The operation uncovered the gut-wrenching realities of sex trafficking — including several young girls who were pregnant, one of them carrying the child of her trafficker. Officials stressed that the operation didn't end with their rescue, but each child received immediate medical evaluations and psychological support, with long-term care protocols set in motion. "The unique part of this operation was the fact that underaged critically missing children were not only recovered but were debriefed and provided with physical and psychological care," said U.S. Marshal William Berger. "This operation further included follow-up assistance in hopes that these youths will not return back to the streets to be further victimized." The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) also played a central role in the operation. Commissioner Mark Glass assured the parents of missing children that the department will "never stop searching." "Sixty kids saved. That number sends the message that Florida will never be a safe place for traffickers," Glass said. "At FDLE, we will continue to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. And to any family still missing their child, we will never stop searching until we make sure they are brought home safely." Eight individuals were arrested during the operation, the agency said. They face a variety of charges, including human trafficking, child endangerment, drug possession and drug trafficking. Authorities say the investigation is ongoing, and additional charges may follow. The Office of Statewide Prosecution is handling the criminal cases, with support from state attorneys in the Sixth and Thirteenth Judicial Circuits. Special Counsel Rita Peters has been appointed to lead the prosecution in the human trafficking case, while two additional trafficking cases remain under investigation. Sex trafficking continues to pose a persistent threat in Florida, with the state among the top three in the nation for reported human trafficking cases, alongside California and Texas, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. In 2024 alone, according to the agency, Florida received over 1,830 signals, which led to the identification of 1,874 victims. The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) found that many victims are minors between the ages of 11 and 17, often lured through manipulation or online platforms. In response, Florida leaders have stepped up both funding and legislative efforts. Gov. Ron DeSantis recently allocated $4.9 million to expand emergency shelter beds and staff support for trafficking victims, while an additional $900,000 in grant funding was provided to the FDLE. WATCH: "Florida is being proactive about stopping human trafficking," DeSantis previously said. "Though our open southern border invites criminal activity like human trafficking, states can combat it with stronger penalties and increased training for emergency personnel to recognize and respond to trafficking, and today I was pleased to institute those measures in Florida." State lawmakers have also passed legislation to increase penalties for traffickers and mandate trafficking-awareness training for hotel workers, healthcare providers and school staff. Fox News Digital has reached out to Uthmeier's office for comment.
