UNCHAINED aims to promote human trafficking awareness

By Taylor Williams

Human trafficking is a 32 billion dollar industry that has approximately 27 million people enslaved today.

According to the Ohio Attorney General 2014 Annual Human Trafficking Report, Ohio passed House Bill 262 in 2012.

This bill “requires local law enforcement to collect data on human trafficking investigations and forward information to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI). “

This bill has seen success as law enforcement reported 85 investigations that led to 98 arrests and 17 convictions in 2014.

The Ohio Attorney’s General Office has created subcommittees to work toward low-intensity and high-intensity awareness programs for the general public as well as at-risk populations, according to the report.

The government is not the only group aiming to promote education and awareness.

UNCHAINED is “a non-profit organization dedicated to ending human trafficking through education and awareness,” according to the company’s media kit.

By putting on fashion shows, UNCHAINED is able to tell the stories of girls who have been enslaved by human trafficking and engage the audience in being educated.

Co-founder Stephanie Catani said she first became interested in human trafficking awareness after studying abroad in London during college.

“I always thought it was happening overseas where I had spent a lot of time, but that nothing like that was happening in my own country,” she said. “That’s what finally rallied me to get involved.”

The largest group of people enslaved in human trafficking is children under the age of 18, “the average age of entry is between 11 and 14 in the U.S. In Ohio it is 12,” Catani said.

She said when she first joined UNCHAINED she and co-founder Felicia Kalan thought they were only producing one show, but have since grown their organization.

Kalan said House Bill 262 played a large role in increasing awareness in Ohio, but is not the only aspect.

“I would say the awareness has increased mostly due to the Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Task Force that was created under Governor Kasich that encouraged state agencies to provide services to victims of human trafficking,” she said.

The task force has since partnered with many organizations to bring greater awareness to the issue.

Catani said if she had to pick one story that always reminds her why she does what she does it is the story of a girl from Columbus who met an older guy while ice-skating. After giving her attention and a secret cell phone to communicate about their secret romance, he told her he wanted to take her on a trip to New York City.

“She told her parents she was staying at her friend’s house,” Catani said. “The FBI is still looking for her.”

The UNCHAINED staff hopes that in the future there will be no need for awareness because the issue will be completely decimated.

The 2014 report stated, “through continued awareness and education, Ohio will work towards providing better supports for victims and survivors of trafficking as well as identifying and convicting more traffickers.”

UNCHAINED uses fashion to communicate education and share the stories of those affected by human trafficking:

(Video by UNCHAINED brand ambassador Andrea Hoppel)