An ugly side of Lansing was exposed this week. A side we ignore because it often happens in the shadows and makes us uncomfortable.

Human trafficking “is alive and well in Michigan,” says Courtney Walsh, regional specialist for Polaris, which runs the National Human Trafficking Resource Center.

While the Monday arrest of Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III on charges of pandering and engaging with prostitutes has garnered national attention, trafficking and prostitution are not new phenomena.

In 2013 and 2014, there were 716 arrests for prostitution and human trafficking-related crimes in Michigan.

“I assure you, it’s not a victimless crime,” says Dr. LaClaire Bouknight, a Lansing physician and chair of the Capital Area Anti-Trafficking Alliance.

It’s also not a crime that can be ignored.

Michigan recognizes this, and has been addressing it for years.

Attorney General Bill Schuette, when he took office in 2011, established a special unit to prosecute human traffickers.

In 2014, the Legislature passed and Gov. Rick Snyder signed a 21-bill package described at the time as among the toughest in the nation. Included in the package was the formation of the Michigan Human Trafficking Commission within the Attorney General’s Office.

UAW Local 6000, which represents thousands of employees in the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services, is working with the department to train more workers to watch for signs of human trafficking among those with whom they come in contact.

The National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline took more than 700 calls from Michigan in 2015 and reported 152 cases of trafficking. That was the eighth-highest in the nation. And a strong reminder there is work yet to be done.

More and better training for educators, physicians, first responders and others to spot potential signs of human trafficking would be valuable. Stronger reporting on human trafficking cases would help elevate the crime’s profile as one that will be prosecuted.

The intense scrutiny of the trafficking and prostitution climate in Greater Lansing after the arrest of a long-time prosecutor for allegedly breaking the law he swore to uphold could help raise the public consciousness of an issue too many people ignore.

“The reason why it’s hiding is because people don’t want to see that,” said Lansing-area filmmaker Laura Swanson, who is producing a documentary on trafficking.

It’s time to see the traffickers. It’s time to help trafficking victims. And it’s time to demand steep penalties for those convicted of these crimes.

– The Lansing State Journal