Reports of human trafficking have increased in the United States 259 percent between 2008 and 2012, according to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center and its Polaris Project.
The three most common forms of sex trafficking reported to a hotline involved pimp-controlled prostitution, commercial-front brothels, and escort services.
The most frequented reports of human labor trafficking was domestic work, restaurants, peddling rings, and sales crews, reported the organization.
Thursday evening there is a public forum exploring this issue titled Human Trafficking: A Journey Down a Dead End Street from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Blumer Room inside the Memorial Building.
Framingham Police Sgt. Richard Pomales, the Massachusetts attorney general's office, the Middlesex district attorney's office and two organizations whose focus it is to battle human trafficking (SEEN Coalition and the EVA Center in Boston) will sit on a panel.
According to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, 41 percent of sex trafficking cases and 20 percent of labor trafficking cases referenced American citizens as victims.
Women were referenced as victims in 85 percent of sex trafficking cases, and men in 40 percent of labor trafficking cases, according to National Human Trafficking Resource Center.
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