They've read about it in school. They've seen documentaries about it. They've witnessed it on neighborhood streets.
Riviera Beach residents say human trafficking ? the modern-day enslaving of human beings for labor or sexual purposes ? is a problem in Florida, and that Project Unite could help to put an end to it.
"We see this all the time," Vontavious Robinson, 22, said. "I've seen prostitutes. I don't know if they're being forced to do that."
Project Unite, a group formed to combat human trafficking, had its first forum recently at St. George's Episcopal Church.
Its leaders said it was created to raise awareness of the issue. The church on West 22nd Street will provide a safe haven for local victims of trafficking where they can come for food and counseling.
"South Florida is a hotbed of human trafficking," said Jeff Goldberg, assistant logistics manager of Palm Beach County's Emergency Management Department.
Every 30 minutes a person is trafficked into the United States, he said. And 73 percent of victims are younger than 25.
Florida is third in the country, behind California and New York, in terms of the number of cases, he said. Victims are either trafficked locally or are brought in from places such as China, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil and Costa Rica.
Victims are often promised a better life in Florida but really it's just "a better lie," said Brandy Macaluso, coordinator of victim's services for the Coalition of Independent Living Options.
Sometimes women are told they can work as housekeepers and then when they arrive in the country they are thrown on the streets to sell themselves, she said.
Sheila Acevedo, Project Unite's chairwoman, said with the church's aid, she helped three women and two children who were human trafficking victims to safety. One was a 15-year-old who was often arrested on prostitution charges while she was living with a man in a trailer park.
Project Unite is led by the Chi Zeta Zeta chapter of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, the Palm Beach County Coalition on Human Trafficking, and the Soroptimist International of Palm Beach.
Members of Project Unite hope victims will come forward more often now and that word will spread on the street about the group ? eventually minimizing the number of human trafficking victims. And some residents believe it could.
"It will help," Robinson said. "If they keep pushing it."
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