That means they’re on pace for a nearly 100% increase from last year if trends continue.įlores has been working on renovating an old veterinary clinic into a drop-in center on the West Side. “At the end of last year, we had over 1,500 victims.” “By the end of March 31, we saw 700 human trafficking victims,” Flores says. She's expressing alarm at what she says is an increase in prostitution on the West Side. One local activist says an unintended consequence of that has been an increase in prostitution and sex trafficking in some parts of the city.Ĭredit Adora Namigadde Esther Flores is the founder of 1DivineLine2HealthĮsther Flores, a nurse, runs a local nonprofit called 1DivineLine2Health. More people are being released from jail during the coronavirus pandemic to promote social distancing behind bars. “We just hope and pray that somebody will stop and help,” she says. The woman says it’s harder to get a john, a person who solicits sex, to stop – even they are leery of physical touch these days. “Everything isn’t easy, it’s way harder than it was before the COVID-19 virus been announced.” “It’s actually been a real life struggle because of the COVID-19 virus going around,” she says. It's where the highest concentration of soliciting charges are logged in Columbus. Now, she's is back on Sullivant Avenue working the streets. The woman has been out of jail for about a month. They only released me because of COVID-19.”

“Because of them taking me to jail, and I was sitting in there for two and a half weeks. “I had a probation violation and because of my probation violation they took me to jail,” explains one woman, whose name WOSU is not using. For more than an hour, there’s a constant stream of people. Several women gather outside the van, taking turns to approach for items like clothing and some donuts donated by a local bakery.Īs women receive help, they go and grab their friends nearby and bring them to the van. A red van with cartoon decal is parked along the side of a road in the Hilltop.

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