During National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, data is offered on spotting trafficking signs

During January, Youth for Human Rights is raising awareness of human trafficking by pointing out its signs.

Washington, DC (Hagerstown, MD), United States - January 18, 2024 /MarketersMEDIA/ —

Every year since 2010, the President of the United States has dedicated January to raising awareness about human trafficking and educating the public about how to identify and prevent this crime. Thus, January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

The United States is not immune to human trafficking. In order to battle this social ill, citizens must become aware of human trafficking’s signs and know what to do when seeing them.

The Youth for Human Rights DC chapter has been working with community groups, churches, and government programs to spread information about how to spot key indicators of sex trafficking. Many victims of human trafficking are minors. Recognizing the signs of human trafficking is often the first step to identifying and helping a trafficking victim, according to the training of Youth for Human Rights.

Human Trafficking Prevention Month is designed to educate the public about human trafficking and the role they can play in preventing and responding to human trafficking. In order to enhance efforts to keep citizens safe from human trafficking, the following signs of sex trafficking, the largest form of trafficking in the United States, are being made known:

Signs of sex trafficking include:

• Changes in school attendance, habits, friend groups, vocabulary, demeanor, and attitude

• Sudden appearance of luxury items, such as manicures, designer clothes, purses

• Sexually provocative clothing

• Tattoos or branding

• Refillable gift cards

• Multiple phones or social media accounts

• Provocative pictures posted online or stored on the phone

• Unexplained injuries

• Social interaction and schedule being strictly controlled by someone else

• Isolation from family, friends, and community

A common misconception is that trafficking mainly involves foreign-born individuals being brought into the United States. Actually, according to the Department of Justice Bureau of Statistics, the majority of trafficking victims in the United States are US citizens, often teenagers.

Anyone can report human trafficking by paying attention to the red flags listed above and notifying the police or school officials. (Individuals are cautioned not to approach traffickers themselves because they could put themselves in danger and jeopardize any future prosecution of the buyers or pimps.)

It is recommended to call the human trafficking hotline or 911 and report any suspected instances of human trafficking. The contacts are:

National Human Trafficking Hotline 1-888-373-7888 or text HELP or INFO to BeFree (233733).

Youth for Human Rights International has been working to prevent human trafficking on a national and international level for more than two decades. Raising awareness of human rights, as delineated in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is an important undercut to this and many other human rights issues. Article 4 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.”

Youth for Human Rights materials teach the 30 rights which comprise the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Knowledge of these rights helps strengthen children and make it less likely that they become victims of traffickers. Parents can strengthen their children’s confidence and reduce their susceptibility to becoming trafficked by giving them the Youth for Human Rights materials. An understanding of human rights breeds confidence in youth. Pimps and recruiters rarely target confident youth; instead, they look for the uncertain and insecure youth, whom they can more easily manipulate and control. By ensuring youth are confident and know their human rights, we can help prevent them from being the target of traffickers.

Photo below: Youth and adults learning about human rights at Lincoln Memorial in September 2023

About the company: Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to teach youth about human rights, specifically the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to inspire them to become valuable advocates for tolerance and peace. YHRI advocates for human rights both in the classroom and in nontraditional educational settings such as through art series, concerts, and other interactive community events, including regional and international human rights summits which bring youth together from across whole sectors of the world.

Contact Info:
Name: Press office
Email: Send Email
Organization: Youth for Human Rights DC Chapter
Address: Washington, DC
Website: http://www.youthforhumanrights.org

Video URL: https://www.youthforhumanrights.org/videos/documentary

Release ID: 89119005

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