As we have been been sharing all month, January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month and this past Monday was National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. In recognition of this month, the Department of Homeland Security DHS has started the Blue Campaign, a national public awareness campaign that encourages community members to help spread the word about human trafficking by taking photos of themselves, friends, family, and colleagues wearing blue clothing and sharing them on social media using hashtag #WearBlueDay. The DHS Blue Campaign is designed to educate the public, law enforcement, and other industry partners to recognize the indicators of human trafficking and how to appropriately respond to possible cases.
Remember, victims of human trafficking are of all genders, ages, races, countries, and socioeconomic statuses. While human trafficking can happen to anyone, people who are already in vulnerable situations — including migrants and refugees fleeing conflict or disaster, homeless LGBT youth, women and girls, and children in poverty — are preyed upon and may be more likely to be targeted by traffickers.
According to the Polaris Project, which publishes data based on calls, text messages, webforms, emails and webchats with the National Human Trafficking Hotline, over 25 million people are trafficked worldwide.
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the scope and impact of human trafficking. The National Human Trafficking Hotline has seen a 40 percent increase in emergency calls. The Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), a human rights organization and one of the nation's largest provider of services to survivors of human trafficking, has seen a 185 percent increase in human trafficking cases during the pandemic, compared to last year. Additionally, 100 percent of CAST's most urgent trafficking cases have been homeless people who were trafficked.
As we continue to recognize the importance of this month, I am asking those of you who are interested in showing your support to join us, next week Tuesday, by wearing BLUE on the KMHS campus in support of the Blue Campaign and National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
