Human Trafficking, Vermont 2017

Human trafficking is not some distant atrocity—it’s happening in Vermont’s backroads, motels, and shadowed corners of cities like Burlington and Rutland. Under the cover of addiction and desperation, traffickers are forcing vulnerable people into commercial sex acts and slave labor, all while law enforcement struggles to pull the crime into the light. January 2017 may have been declared National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month by President Barack Obama, but in Vermont, the war against modern-day slavery is fought year-round.

The mechanics of this exploitation are brutal and calculated. Victims—often drug addicts, children, the disabled, or undocumented immigrants—are lured by false promises of work, shelter, or love. Once trapped, they’re controlled through violence, threats, and psychological manipulation. Force, fraud, or coercion defines the crime, and traffickers don’t need chains to enslave; they use dependency, fear, and isolation to maintain power, often while their victims walk in plain sight through towns and gas stations, grocery stores, and schools.

U.S. Attorney Eric Miller laid it bare: human trafficking is deeply entangled with Vermont’s heroin epidemic. Dealers are weaponizing addiction, forcing users to trade sex for drugs or profits, then ensuring they stay hooked. ‘Trafficking in people compounds the damage that trafficking in heroin has caused our state,’ Miller said. These operations aren’t random—they’re organized, profit-driven, and deliberately hidden within the chaos of substance abuse.

Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan warned that silence is complicity. ‘Remaining silent is no longer an option,’ he said, calling on citizens to report suspicions and intervene when someone appears exploited. The scars left on survivors—physical, emotional, psychological—are deep and lasting. Yet too many cases go unreported, buried beneath stigma, fear, and lack of awareness.

The Vermont Human Trafficking Task Force, a coalition of federal, state, and local agencies, is pushing back with coordinated investigations, victim services, and community training. Their mission: dismantle networks, rescue victims, and educate the public. Awareness is key—anyone can be targeted, and traffickers come from all walks of life, including family members and so-called friends.

If you see something, say something. Call the Vermont Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-98HUMAN (1-888-984-8626). For training or outreach, contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office at (802) 951-6725. This isn’t someone else’s problem. It’s Vermont’s. And it’s time to confront it head-on.

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