As Human Trafficking Awareness Month comes to an end, advocates and survivors are reminding people of how common it is in the Mahoning Valley. 

“I never thought that I could get out and live a normal life, and there’s a lot of women out there that probably think the same thing,” Heather Garland, a human trafficking survivor, said. “I think the more that we help them instead of shame them, then the call for it would go down.” 

Garland was trafficked in the Mahoning Valley and Western Pennsylvania area for nearly 25 years, from ages 18 to 43. She got out of the industry in June of 2023 and is currently working her way back to a regular life through programs. Garland said her trafficker was violent towards her, even knocking all of her teeth out once in a fight. She also said her trafficker used money and her dog as reasons to make her stay with them and in the industry. 

While Garland was being trafficked, the Ohio Turnpike played a huge role in moving her around.

“The Pennsylvania Turnpike leads to the Ohio Turnpike, right? Look at how easy you can get a victim of human trafficking from Pennsylvania to Ohio or from Ohio to Pennsylvania,” Teresa Merriweather, a human trafficking survivor and awareness expert, said.

Merriweather says Ohio is used as a source state for the trafficking industry. 

“The state of Ohio is used for recruitment, transporting of individuals involved in human trafficking and a final destination,” Merriweather said. 

Since the turnpike is a huge part of the industry, Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers are trained to look for anything out of the ordinary during traffic stops. Sergeant Ryan Purpura says human trafficking doesn’t always look like a bunch of people thrown in the back of a car.

“It could be something like branding on the person's hands, maybe on their wrists; maybe the driver and the passenger just don't quite go together. There's a big age gap between their ages with no clear explanation,” Sergeant Purpura said. 

Another way traffickers can be caught on the turnpike is at manned toll booths. 

“If there's an employee there instead of a self (pay) machine that you put your money in, that employee would be able to recognize a victim that may be driving,” Meriweather said.

“It does look a lot like a boyfriend or girlfriend situation, but it’s not,” Garland said. “I wasn’t allowed to look up. I can’t look up and look at anybody in the eyes.”

Other ways traffickers hold power is by holding onto someone’s identification cards or by hovering over them and answering questions for their victims instead of letting them speak. 

If traffickers aren’t caught by troopers or at toll booths, then it’s up to the other drivers on the turnpike to report red flags they may see. 

”People on the roadways, people at the rest areas, at the plazas, if they see something out of place, they could be the difference too,” Sergeant Purpura said.

“A lot of people think that it's only happening overseas, it's happening right here in the United States,” Merriweather said. “My life, like my peers or survivors like me, our lives matter.” 

Merriweather says anyone can be trafficked regardless of age or gender, and the same goes for the traffickers themselves. 

Trafficking can be reported through the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or by texting BEFREE to 233733, through live chat at humantraffickinghotline.org, or by dialing #677 in Ohio.