I'm NOT 4 Sale Campaign

This is a not a law-enforcement operated campaign. It is a partnership with BLOC Ministries and affiliated non-profit partners. Anonymous & confidential reports can be made 24/7 by phone or at the online report link below. Key non-identifying data will be shared with local authorities and partners who can help make your neighborhoods and city safer.

We want you to join us in promoting awareness of the problem of prostitution and sex trafficking in our neighborhoods, our region, and across Ohio and the United States. As of 2019, 425 cases were documented in the state of Ohio alone. Each of us contributes in one way or another to the fight against sex trafficking and its related substance abuse epidemic. Remember, if you SEE SOMETHING? SAY SOMETHING!

Campaign Goals

As awareness is raised and more people report their suspicions, we may see that the number of reported cases increases. This is a good thing! This means that we aren't letting sex traffickers hide in the shadows. The next steps are to make those numbers go down by stopping trafficking at its root.

Now is time to come together to support each other in this coordinated effort. Our national partners include the Salvation Army, the National Human Trafficking Hotline, and the US Institute Against Human Trafficking.

Did you know?

Sex trafficking is defined as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to induce commercial sex act, if the victim is 18 years of age or older. Any minor who performs a commercial sex act is federally defined as a victim of sex trafficking, regardless of the use of force, fraud or coercion. The term “commercial sex act” is the giving or receiving of anything of value (money, drugs, shelter, food, clothes, etc.) to any person in exchange for a sex act. Commercial sex acts may include prostitution, pornography, and sexual performance. (Source: Shared Hope International)

The average age a teen enters the sex trade in the U.S. is 12 to 14 years old. This epidemic is a silent battle for the victims we all serve. They become too afraid and ashamed to talk about their horrific experience, which leads to self-destruction and a vicious cycle of depression, addiction, self-harm and destruction (or suicide). According to Cincinnati Police, the prevalence in Cincinnati’s communities of solicitation, prostitution and sex trafficking in our own backyard is monumental. Since 2016, Cincinnati Police documented 315 arrests for prostitution and sex trafficking-related matters—of which 10% of those arrested are HIV positive. And, there has been a 33% increase in prostitution from 2018.

The sex trafficking industry is fueled by buyers who pay traffickers to supply victims to meet their demand. Men, women and children from a wide variety of backgrounds are victimized through sex trafficking. Vulnerability factors that make individuals more susceptible to trafficking include low self-esteem, being abused or neglected, poverty, homelessness, being in the foster care system and identifying as LGBT.

Children are especially vulnerable to traffickers because of their emotional and economic dependence on others and undeveloped ability to analyze decisions and understand consequences, as well as their high “market value” among buyers. A trafficker, or pimp, is anyone who profits by receiving cash or benefits in exchange for a sex act. Traffickers can be family members, friends or “boyfriends.” Buyers are those who purchase the sex act thereby fueling the commercial sex industry by making it profitable.