Ansley Franco, Jan. 31, 2026
Human trafficking cases are rarely simple, and in Georgia, they often involve children, organized criminal networks and digital evidence scattered across multiple jurisdictions.
“I can’t imagine the horror,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said, describing crimes in which traffickers “buy and sell children for sex.”
In response to the growing complexity of those cases, the Attorney General’s Office launched a statewide human trafficking prosecution unit in 2019. It is designed to work alongside local district attorneys, law enforcement agencies and victim advocates to investigate and prosecute traffickers without retraumatizing the survivor at the center of the cases.
January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and Carr said awareness, collaboration across state, local and federal levels has fundamentally changed how trafficking cases are investigated and prosecuted in Georgia.
Since 2019, 200 children have been saved from sex trafficking in Georgia, and 70 people have been prosecuted in connection with such crimes. One of those rescued includes a 15-year-old girl who was found by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office just one day after Sheriff announced its new Human Trafficking Unit.
With an international port, a strong tourism industry and major highway corridors, Chatham County ranks sixth among Georgia’s 159 counties for reported cases involving minor trafficking victims.
Carr said the state primarily focuses its resources on domestic sex trafficking of minors and works alongside the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit to enforce laws against commercial sex and labor trafficking.
“Both sides are evil. Both sides are illegal,” Carr said. “We have prosecuted a few of those cases (labor trafficking), as well, but admittedly, have focused a lot of our time, attention and resources on children.”
In Georgia, the average age of sex trafficking victims is 14- to 17-year-old girls. Carr added that 80% of human trafficking in Georgia is gang-related. The most recent trafficking conviction of gang members was in May 2025, when two people from Gwinnett County were convicted of trafficking one child and four women.
“The good news is, in Georgia, there are great relationships, generally speaking, between federal, state and local law enforcement, particularly as it relates to human trafficking,” Carr said. “If you recognize the horror of this industry, if you recognize the horror of these crimes, then you’re willing to work together and that’s what we’ve generally found.”
Advocates and nonprofits
Beyond investigations and prosecutions, the AG’s Human Trafficking Unit relies on victim advocates to support survivors throughout the legal process.
“A victim advocate’s primary focus is protecting the child, first and foremost — not just the case,” Michelle Lopez, a victim advocate for Carr’s office, said. “Many children do not realize they are victims and often feel loyalty or emotional attachment to their trafficker.”
To help the survivors, Lopez said no two days are the same. Responsibilities include working directly with survivors to assess immediate needs such as housing, mental health care, substance-use treatment and basic necessities. She also attends forensic interviews and visits survivors in housing facilities.
Lopez and other advocates employ a trauma-informed approach when working with survivors, which prioritizes trust, compassion and meeting survivors where they are without pushing them to prevent re-traumatization.
“Many survivors simply need someone they can call to talk through their experiences without judgment. They have been through a great deal, and being heard matters,” she said.
As a prosecution-based advocate, Lopez serves as a bridge between the survivor and the prosecution team, a role she said is critical because many survivors would not be able to participate in a case without an advocate.
“The saying ‘it takes a village’ truly applies to this work. No single agency or nonprofit has all the resources needed to help a survivor heal and rebuild,” Lopez said.
Tharros Place in Savannah is a nonprofit serving girls ages 12 to 17 who are survivors of human trafficking. The facility houses girls and aims to create a space for camaraderie, fellowship and healing. It is one of the organizations the state’s Human Trafficking Unit works with.
“I want survivors to know that there are many support services available to meet their needs, no matter what those needs may be,” Lopez said. “Resources may feel far away to them, but they are often close to us, and part of my role is sharing that information.”
