Tim Swarens is the Opinion Director at the Indianapolis Star and is working on a long-term project aimed at human trafficking.  He emphasized the story is a work in progress, but he shared what his reporting has taught him thus far into the project.

The scene was Geist Christian Church in Fishers, before a full crowd of people wanting to know more about human trafficking.  They learned a lot by the time the evening was over.

Swarens, after sifting through plenty of cases involving child sex trafficking, came upon one case of a 15-year-old girl from southern Illinois.  She had a fight with her father, was upset, met a man on the street who enticed her into going with him.  The man put her onto the Internet and sold the services of her and other girls in the summer of 2015.  One day, a “customer” demanded a certain sex act the girl refused to perform.  She was beaten for saying no.

Why did that incident stick out in Swarens’ mind?  “It illustrates an attitude,” he said.  “Both the buyer and the seller saw this child as property.  She was not a child to them, she was not a human being, she was property and property does not have the right to say no.”

The event was called “Breaking the Chains, Step Into Freedom” and was sponsored by the Leslie Anne  Hulse Foundation.

Swarens told the audience the way to attack human trafficking is on the demand side.  He described those buying these services as “regular guys, it’s doctors, veterinarians, attorneys.”

Swarens emphasized that no place is safe, including suburban areas such as Fishers.  He wrote a story posted on the Indianapolis Star Web site….you can read it at this link.

Other speakers included Detective John Daggy of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Megan McGuire of Ascent 121, and Michelle Corrao from Prevail Inc.