State’s sex trade growing rapidly in rural areas

The Brillion News

HOWARD – Sister Celine Goessel, a member of the Sister of the Holy Cross, came out of retirement to fight human trafficking and she has organized a regional presentation to show people what the problem looks like in northeast Wisconsin.

Goessl, who lived in Askeaton for two years, said the problem is growing dramatically in smaller cities and rural areas – as the purveyors leave larger cities where human trafficking, particularly sex trafficking, is targeted in aw enforcement crackdowns.

“Wisconsin is among the top five states that have the worst human trafficking activity – and Green Bay has sort of become the hub,” she said. “This past year, the Chicago and Milwaukee police departments have been tightening up and doing stings, picking up a lot traffickers and johns – the sex buyers – and putting them in jail.”

She said the pimps have picked up and moved their operations into smaller communities, including here in northeast Wisconsin.

A informational program on human trafficking in northeast Wisconsin will take place on Saturday, January 16, from 8 a.m. to noon at St. John the Baptist Church, 2597 Glendale Avenue, in Howard.

Organizers would like to know, by January 9, how many people are coming. Pre-registration is handled on-line at https://htawarenessevent.eventbrite,com. The event is free.