State Senator Kevin Kinney (D) speaks at Washington Public Library Tuesday. Photo by Sam McIntosh.

State Senator Kevin Kinney (D) gave a presentation on human trafficking at the Washington Public Library Tuesday.

The presentation was sponsored by the Washington branch of the American Association of University Women to talk about human trafficking, which is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labor, sexual slavery, or other forms of exploitation. Kinney, a former investigator for the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office says between 800,000-900,000 people are trafficked internationally annually, and 18,000-20,000 victims are trafficked into the U.S. annually. Kinney shared about a few of the 14 trafficking cases he investigated in his career and gave clarifications on human trafficking, such as that it doesn’t have to be across a border.

AAUW Washington Branch President and city council member Millie Youngquist shares why they held this presentation with Kinney and Washington County Investigator Chad Ellis, “We know that there are increasingly more cases of human trafficking and it is a crime that really affects women and children particularly, so we wanted to open this up to the community and to share information and let them know about the issue and what is happening.”

Kinney explains what he hopes attendees realize about human trafficking in rural Iowa, “That this does happen that it is in our communities, no matter how big or small and that if there is something that does not look like it should look that you need to contact your local police departments, that is their job.”

Kinney explained in his presentation that solving human trafficking cases often requires the cooperation and collaboration of multiple law enforcement agencies, such as the Washington County Sheriff’s Office. If you believe someone is being exploited in this modern form of slavery, call 911.