A report says the number of Ohio human trafficking cases reported to a national hotline has risen sharply.
The report says Ohio ranked 11th in calls to the hotline in 2012 and jumped to fourth in 2015.
The report was released late Thursday by Republican Gov. John Kasich's human trafficking task force. It says the data only capture cases reported to the hotline, not all incidents of trafficking.
Elizabeth Ranade Janis is the Ohio Department of Public Safety's anti-trafficking coordinator. She says training and awareness programs are revealing a hidden population.
She says the figures don't necessarily mean there's been an uptick in human trafficking in Ohio.
State anti-trafficking groups reported handling 445 cases of people identified as human trafficking victims in the first half of 2016.