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Last updated on Friday, February 27, 2009
(UNDATED) - Human trafficking in the United States has become a problem that exists under the radar because most victims are not reporting incidents to police.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gayle Helart defines human trafficking as obtaining the labor or commercial sex services of another person by either force, fraud or coercion.
She says many victims of human trafficking are immigrants.
Those who are here illegally don't report to police for obvious reasons.
But others may not report the crime because police are part of the human trafficking problem in their home country.
Helart says it may take as long to raise public awareness about the seriousness of human trafficking as it did for domestic violence.
She says human trafficking victims will feel more comfortable talking about it when they're confident their story will be taken seriously.
Helart spoke at a seminar in Indianapolis sponsored by Clarian Health and the Clarian coalition against domestic violence.
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