MONROE — The Green County Board of Supervisors is set to vote on a proclamation against human trafficking, but it begs the question: Is human trafficking a problem here or is it just an urban issue?

Law enforcement officials say Green and Lafayette counties are not immune from the issue, but here they have not seen any evidence of widespread child sex trafficking or prostitution — two of the more well-known types of the problem. Still, there are instances where it comes up and a multi-agency task force has been created here to look at the issue in-depth and to help educate the public.

“The (Green County) proclamation is to provide some sort of awareness that this is more than just a border issue,” said Green County Sheriff Cody Kanable. “There are resources available locally if you need help.”

In Lafayette County, Sheriff Reg Gill said officials there are more likely to see human trafficking somewhere in the immigrant/agricultural labor force, a community and system he said is exceptionally hard to investigate.

“We’re not in the same boat as some of the bigger metro areas,” Gill said. “It can be a closed-off world and tough to put a finger on it.”

Still, human trafficking, officials say, is widespread and in all 72 counties of Wisconsin, including Green and Lafayette. An estimated 27.6 million people are subjected to human trafficking globally, including cases of human trafficking reported in every state and territory.

According to the ordinance, human trafficking is defined as “a commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion or when a person induced to perform such an act is not yet 18 years old; or the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery…”

The methods employed are many and varied, and, according to the human trafficking proclamation “people can be trafficked in person and online; in industries such as restaurants, cleaning services, agriculture, construction, and factories; and by strangers or someone they know, including partners, parents, and other family members…”

Indeed, Kanable, who has detectives assigned to the local task force, said the crime is more likely to be one of “opportunity” for those with a criminal mindset, than a trend in this area.

“It’s definitely a crime of opportunity,” said, Kanable. “Some of these people, if the opportunity exists, they will use a victim to their advantage.”

Both sheriffs said they have investigated specific reports of human trafficking in both counties. Although they did not necessarily lead to specific charges, they know this area is not immune from big-city problems that are never too far away.

Monroe Police Chief Fred Kelley pointed out that Wis. 11 is the only way to crisscross Wisconsin from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River, and because of that, it is probably a matter of time before local law enforcement sees some examples of the scourge of human trafficking here.

“We want to educate everyone on this kind of stuff,” said Kelley. “If you see something, say something.”

Often, experts say, a concerned or observant passerby can be the lifeline that helps end a nightmare for those involved in human trafficking. Statewide, Kelley said he is told that some form of human trafficking exists in all 72 state counties.

“I’m not sure it looks the same in every place,” said Kelley. “Wisconsin is trying to be aware of this, and we have people here working on it.”

January is National Human Trafficking Month and as such, the county is encouraging citizens to learn more about the topic. Visit acf.hhs.gov/otip and humantraffickinghotline.org to learn more about human trafficking and ways they can help.