COLUMBIA, SC (WBTW) – Horry County now tops the state for human trafficking, the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office says.
The attorney general’s office released its annual human trafficking report for 2019 on Friday.
SC Attorney General Alan Wilson says the top five counties for human trafficking have changed from 2018. Horry County now tops the list, followed, in order, by Greenville, Richland, Dorchester, and Charleston counties.
According to AG Wilson, there was a 360% increase in “the total number of trafficking victims recorded in South Carolina” and an increase in the number of human trafficking cases reported across the state.
“The large increase in victims recorded speaks to efforts across the state to raise awareness of the National Human Trafficking Hotline number so victims know how to reach out for help,” said Attorney General Wilson. “We also recognize that the regional task forces are better educating members of their communities on the issue, which in turn causes shifts in the top five counties each year.”
AG Wilson also noted and increase in the number of labor trafficking cases in SC.
The office also announced new partnerships with the SC Beer Wholesalers Association (SCBWA) and the SC Restaurant and Lodging Association to “increase awareness of human trafficking within the hospitality and beer wholesale industries and to train the industries to respond to potential incidents of human trafficking.” The SCBWA has placed signs with the number for the Human Trafficking National Hotline (1-888-373-7888) on the back of delivery trucks, “so as those trucks drive around the state to make deliveries, drivers will see the number.”
For more information and to read the full 2019 report, click here.
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