Human trafficking cases in SC last year involved more than 450 children; only one emergency shelter in the state available
By Skylar Laird
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA — The South Carolina attorney general is asking for $10 million to open more shelters for children and teens freed from the horrors of human trafficking.
Human trafficking most often refers to sex trafficking, but it also includes labor trafficking, in which people are forced or manipulated into working for no or little pay. Of the 357 human trafficking cases investigated in 2023 by state law enforcement, nearly 90% of them involved forced prostitution, according to the 2023 Human Trafficking Annual Report released Thursday.
Investigators with the State Law Enforcement Division suspect nearly 500 people in South Carolina were being trafficked last year. Of those, 460 — more than 90% — were children and teenagers younger than 18, according to the report.
But the state only has one emergency shelter for young survivors who manage to escape on their own or are freed by law enforcement, Attorney General Alan Wilson told reporters Thursday, Jan. 10.
“The state is woefully inadequate in providing transitional housing and places for minor victims of human trafficking to go,” Wilson said during the news conference.
Building more shelters
Wilson plans to ask House budget writers next week for $10 million in the upcoming state budget to create a grant program for more shelters. He did not provide details. And his office declined to provide any before he formally makes his request to legislators.
While four nonprofits offer emergency shelters, only one — the Cumbee Center to Assist Abused Persons — allows minors to stay there. And the Cumbee Center only serves a handful of counties, according to the annual report released by Wilson.
Residential treatment is available for underage trafficking survivors at three nonprofits across the state. But that doesn’t necessarily help people who immediately need somewhere to stay.
Emergency shelters are essential for people who may not be able to return to their families because their family members were involved in the trafficking, Wilson said.
“We need to open up shelters around the state,” Wilson said. “These shelters will provide much-needed safety and care and provide services to both the children and their families.”
The state budget designated funding to the Human Trafficking Task Force, run by Wilson’s office, for the first time in 2022. The $1.7 million it’s received annually since has hired employees and funded outreach efforts, to include teaching students in public schools how to avoid being trafficked, Wilson said.
Increase in victims
The number of people SLED agents suspected were being trafficked increased in 2023, even as the total number of cases investigated dropped. In 2023, the department opened 357 cases involving nearly 500 victims. In 2022, it opened 440 cases involving 416 victims.
The number of people charged with crimes related to trafficking also increased, from 10 in 2022 to 21 in 2023. The state had 31 people awaiting trial on trafficking-related charges as of the report’s release Thursday.
The number of cases can vary widely from the number of people charged for multiple reasons, such as one person accused of multiple crimes, cases still being investigated and other closed without charges, said SLED spokesperson Renée Wunderlich.
The increase in people charged is not necessarily because there’s more trafficking going on in the state. It could be because there’s more awareness of it, according to the report.
“The strong focus on human trafficking statewide led to the biggest year of charging and prosecuting of human trafficking cases across the state,” the report reads.
Skylar Laird covers the South Carolina Legislature and criminal justice issues. Originally from Missouri, she previously worked for The Post and Courier’s Columbia bureau.
