The state of Ohio is spending nearly $50,000 to launch a campaign to raise awareness of the problem of human trafficking.
Gov. John Kasich said Wednesday that the state is working with a Hudson public relations firm to develop a "multi-pronged outreach and education campaign" that is expected to be introduced before the end of the year.
Kasich's office says the goals will be to educate the public on how to recognize the signs of human trafficking, how to report it and to direct victims to appropriate services and treatment. Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor.
Just this week, four people in northern Ohio were accused of enslaving a mentally disabled woman and her daughter for two years.