Do your part to stop modern slavery

Do you support human trafficking? The question seems insulting. Who, aside from the most vile criminal, would endorse modern slavery? But you could be supporting it and not even know it. The war on human trafficking has been helped by officials in Greenwich acknowledging that, yes, it even exists in one of the richest towns in America. That is partially due to Greenwich bordering New York, which helps explain why the highest number of cases in Connecticut are in Fairfield County.

It’s a local problem, in much the same way as the opioid epidemic to which it is linked. The instinct is to look away, but this is a problem we must force ourselves to recognize.

Human trafficking breeds in the likes of nail salons, restaurants and car washes. Thus, you may be supporting the practice merely by getting your nails done or ordering a meal.

It’s not an easy crime for law enforcement to track, so contacting the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or calling 911 can save victims, who are often children.

Last year, 93 calls were made to the Connecticut hotline for anti-trafficking services and enforcement, a drop from the 148 calls made the previous year. Thirty of the calls in 2018 came from victims themselves.

As we near the end of January as National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, measures must be taken to prioritize the issue for the remainder of the calendar.

New leadership in Hartford presents fresh promise.

Newly elected Attorney General William Tong, who hails from Stamford, supported stronger laws to combat sex trafficking when he served as co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He now has the pulpit to become a guiding voice on the issue.

The General Assembly, meanwhile, has taken a promising step. Remarkably, Connecticut is the only state in the nation that does not require nail salons to be licensed. For the past 16 years, efforts to revive licensing were thwarted, usually before reaching a public hearing.

This year’s proposal is spearheaded by state Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, D-West Hartford, the former chair of Connecticut’s Trafficking in Persons Council. Even more promising is that it is co-sponsored by state Rep. Fred Camillo, R-Greenwich, a reasoned voice in the Legislature who says he is poised to challenge those who deem it an “anti-business bill.”

“I saw firsthand how Connecticut’s unregulated nail salon industry makes us a hotbed for human trafficking,” Gilchrest said.

The measure would amend state law to require estheticians, eyelash technicians and nail technicians to meet mandated standards and obtain a license.

It’s the kind of legislation that is typically in danger of being brushed aside in a busy session. At a time when mending the state’s crippled finances consumes the energies of all lawmakers, bills such as this one must not be forsaken.

You may not be aware you are supporting human trafficking. We must all make ourselves aware of what we can do to prevent it.