South Carolina Needs to Lead on Eradicating Human Trafficking

Originally Featured in the Post and Courier February 26th, 2026.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime defines human trafficking as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit" and notes: "Men, women, and children of all ages and from all backgrounds can become victims of this crime, which occurs in every region of the world. The traffickers often use violence or fraudulent employment agencies and fake promises of education and job opportunities to trick and coerce their victims.”

South Carolina stands at a crossroads on this problem. Our geographical location, with all the interstates passing through South Carolina, provides an easy route for human traffickers to transport their victims, while our antiquated laws tie the hands of law enforcement in effectively combating the crime.

The mere mention of “human trafficking” causes us to recoil in horror that it exists and is prevalent in our world today. We can no longer pretend the dark underbelly of human trafficking is confined to the sordid “red-light districts.”  But we must realize that this $150 billion global industry operates on the beautiful streets of Greenville, Columbia, Charleston and countless other cities and towns.

As an organization committed to seeing a state where God is honored, religious freedom is preserved, families thrive and life is cherished, Palmetto Family is compelled to stand strong and fight for the victims of human trafficking.

We are strongly advocating for a two-pronged legislative approach to attack two of the most immediate problems of human trafficking.

S.235, authored by Sen. Josh Kimbrell, R-Spartanburg, passed the Senate on a 40-0 vote in March 2025 and was sent to the House Judiciary Committee the next month.

This legislation recognizes that our state’s commercial sex laws haven’t been updated since 1986 — long before trafficking was seen as a crime and well before the internet. Unbelievably, South Carolina has one of the lowest penalties in the country for purchasers of sex. With targeted amendments advocated by policy experts, we believe that South Carolina can provide reforms that reduce demand, support victims and equip law enforcement with the needed tools to convict traffickers without requiring victim testimony.

Additionally, H.4343, authored by state Rep. Spencer Wetmore, D-Charleston, passed the House on a 111-0 vote in May 2025. The Senate Medical Affairs Committee voted to send it to the Senate floor last week.

Research suggests health care workers are one of the few groups likely to interact with trafficking victims during their exploitation. According to the Polaris Project, “85 percent of those said they had received treatment for an illness or injury directly related to their work or exploitation.” Unfortunately, most health care professionals receive no formal training to help them identify human trafficking and support its victims.

This legislation mandates a human trafficking awareness course for healthcare professionals as part of their license renewal or reactivation. This training would equip providers to recognize signs of trafficking, respond appropriately and connect victims to critical support — potentially saving lives.

It’s time for the Legislature to move forward quickly on these bills to let traffickers know once and for all that they are no longer welcome in our state and that law enforcement will aggressively enforce these new laws to protect victims and help continue to make South Carolina a wonderful place to live, work and raise a family.

Randy Page is the executive vice president of Palmetto Family Alliance and serves on the board of The Charter Institute at Erskine. He previously worked for Gov. David Beasley, Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer.