Friday

Human Trafficking Awareness Month

The United States with the assistance of the international community observe Human Trafficking Awareness Month in January of every year to raise awareness, advocacy, and enforcement of human trafficking laws.
The U.N. Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking reports that modern day slavery impacts "every continent and every type of economy."  From the shoes and clothes that consumers purchase to the food that people consume, human trafficking impacts millions of lives.  Each dollar spent buying these products promotes human trafficking and keeps women, children, and men enslaved in forced labor around the world.
The U.N. Global Initiative reports that more than 50% of slavery victims are found in Asia.   The State Department contends that in Asia the victims of human trafficking are triple than in other continents.  This increase in human trafficking and the products that are developed and shipped from Asia has alarmed advocates around the world.  The rate of human trafficking has increased each year, and the economic recession has not decreased the number of slaves worldwide.  On the contrary, human trafficking has been continuously inclining as the need for cheap labor has skyrocketed.

Human Trafficking is estimated to generate $32 billion U.S. Dollars each year. 
A Coalition of Anti-Human Trafficking Organizations have urged the President and the U.S. Congress to make fighting human trafficking a top priority for the government. 
The purpose of Human Trafficking Awareness Month internationally has been to highlight the struggles to fight modern day slavery and the need for greater enforcement of laws in the United States and around the world.