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Human Trafficking Trends in Ohio: National Hotline Data Analysis and COVID-19-Related Changes, 2007-2024

Sonali Jha¹, Athar Memon²

¹School of Media Arts and Studies, Scripps College of Communication, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA.

Public Health Reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)

|July 13, 2026

Abstract

Objectives:

Evidence is scarce on whether characteristics of human trafficking activity in Ohio changed after the COVID-19 pandemic. We used data from hotline-reported human trafficking activity in Ohio to compare trends in trafficking characteristics during the pre-COVID-19 (2015-2019), COVID-19 (2020-2021), and post-COVID-19 (2022-2024) pandemic periods.

Methods:

We used publicly available data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH) to analyze human trafficking characteristics in Ohio, including demographic characteristics (age, sex), trafficking types (sex, labor), venues, reporting platforms, and primary request categories. We assessed differences in characteristics across the study periods and evaluated mean annual counts of potential victims of trafficking.

Results:

During 2007 through 2024, there were 13 584 signals (ie, any incoming communication to the hotline) in Ohio that identified 3966 human trafficking cases involving 7333 potential victims. Potential victims of human trafficking were mostly adults and females. Trafficking type varied significantly (χ²[4 df] = 32.09; P < .001); sex trafficking remained predominant but declined proportionately post-COVID-19, whereas the number of labor trafficking and combined sex and labor cases increased. Telephone calls to NHTH to report trafficking declined after 2020, but short message service, email, and web-based reporting increased. All human trafficking characteristics except for age (P = .052) were significantly different across periods. Mean annual counts of potential victims differed significantly (P = .02), with lower counts during and post-COVID-19 compared with pre-COVID-19.

Conclusions:

This study underscores the importance of interpreting hotline data within the context of reporting and detection dynamics. Strengthening reporting systems, cross-sector collaboration, and data integration are essential to improve trafficking identification and support effective, person-centered responses.

Keywords:

COVID-19 Ohio human trafficking labor trafficking sex trafficking

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