ATLANTA (WJBF) – The FBI is combating how to lower human trafficking in Georgia this year.
Last year, Governor Brian Kemp signed several bills into law to toughen penalties for people who recruit minors into trafficking.
A report released last fall shows the south has the highest cases of trafficking in the country.
FBI investigators say 80% of the victims were teenage girls. 60% of the victims were white and 25% were African American.
The FBI says there are nearly 100 task forces across the country to investigate sex trafficking cases. FBI ranks Atlanta as one of the top 14 cities for traffickers and more than 12-thousand men exploit young women in Georgia every month.
“Georgia is always right up there due to population if not anything else. There is large population here, big cities, nice weather and a lot of people who come down here and there’s a lot of conventions here in the south and interstates that transgress the south. Those are all factors that increase factors in our region,” said FBI spokesperson, Tony Thomas.