Office Overview | Victim Services | Press Room | Community Resources | What's New | Careers | Juvenile Justice | Contact

State's Attorney Announces New Initiatives
Targeting Child Sex Trafficking

Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez on Wednesday announced new initiatives aimed at combating the issue of child sex trafficking – including passage of a sweeping new Illinois law that ends the practice of prosecuting minors who have been prostituted and creates a safe harbor for children who have been exploited by sex trafficking.

Joined by officials from the Chicago Police Department and “Shared Hope,” an international organization that works to prevent and end the sex trafficking of children, Alvarez announced that the State’s Attorney’s Office has launched a new Human Trafficking Initiative, in partnership with law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal level to combat this increasing problem.

“Many people consider sex trafficking to be an international issue and not a problem that impacts us here in our communities, but that is not the case,” Alvarez said.  “It is happening right here and right now in our own back yards.” 

According to statistics, Illinois currently ranks as a state that has one of the highest rates of calls on the National Human Trafficking Hotline and the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless estimates that more than six thousand at-risk children are being trafficked each year in Cook County.  As an international transportation hub and a national convention destination, Chicago has also been designated as a High Intensity Area for this type of criminal activity by the Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In an effort to raise public awareness about the problem, Shared Hope International is conducting a weeklong campaign in Chicago in cooperation with the State’s Attorney’s Office,  Chicago Police and other agencies including an advertising awareness campaign, a public rally, specialized training for law enforcement, and other awareness events throughout the week. 

Alvarez said her office has joined with Chicago Police and others to take a new approach to the problem, developing a Human Trafficking Initiative that will be more proactive in addressing the problem by having designated prosecutors who will conduct long term proactive investigations and building relationships with social service providers to assist law enforcement and to help facilitate the placement of victimized children into appropriate social services. 

In addition, the State’s Attorney’s Office has drafted the Illinois Safe Children’s Act, a sweeping new piece of legislation that decriminalizes the child victims of underage prostitution and puts Illinois at the forefront among states that have enacted “safe harbor” laws dealing with juvenile sex trafficking. 

The bill (see attached), which was approved unanimously by the Illinois Legislature in the most recent session, awaits the signature of Governor Pat Quinn.  Other provisions included in the Illinois Safe Children’s Act include: