The issue is hiding in plain sight.

Human trafficking continues to impact communities across the United States, including in Indiana and in Johnson County. Though exact statistics are hard to pinpoint, since 2007 the National Human Trafficking Hotline has received 4,362 communications about trafficking in the state — including 293 last year.

But many people have a picture of trafficking in their heads that is not realistic.

“They tend to picture more of a dramatic, Hollywood-style vision of what human trafficking is,” said Alexa Dougherty, human trafficking and sexual assault response coordinator for ASSIST Indiana. “The reality is, it’s targeted toward children, teenagers mainly, who are meeting people online. It doesn’t start off looking like human trafficking, and they might not even

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