Help Fight Human Trafficking
January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. DFPS makes fighting against human trafficking a priority, and strives to improve awareness, services, and prevention efforts to help eradicate trafficking in Texas.
Get the 2024 participation guide for ideas and activities that anyone can use to help fight human trafficking.
2024 Highlights
A Week of Prayer to End Human Trafficking
January 8 - January 14, 2024
Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott announced that the Governor's Response Against Child Exploitation (GRACE) initiative will host the fourth annual Week of Prayer to End Human Trafficking from January 8 through January 14, 2024. The statewide interfaith week of prayer coincides with Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the state of Texas and serves as a call to action to the faith-based community to unite in prayer, learn more about human trafficking, and discern opportunities to prevent exploitation and support survivors.
GRACE will launch the Week of Prayer to End Human Trafficking through a virtual interfaith kickoff event January 8 at 7 p.m. on Facebook. The event will include remarks from the First Lady and Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) Commissioner Stephanie Muth, prayer, and a panel discussion of faith leaders. Texans can use the hashtag #TXPraysToEndHT on social media to share their support for the Week of Prayer to End Human Trafficking.
Wear Blue Day: January 11, 2024
January 11 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Join DFPS staff and take photos of friends, family, yourself, and colleagues wearing blue clothing, and then share them on social media – along with the #WearBlueDay hashtag. Anyone can participate. All you need is a piece of blue clothing! Be sure to tag DFPS on social media using handle: @TexasDFPS
Email your photos to: HumanTrafficking@dfps.texas.gov
Check out the Wear Blue 2024 Photo Gallery.
Human Trafficking Awareness Day: January 11, 2024
Texas Capitol Event
Join the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Coordinating Council and Task Force members for Human Trafficking Awareness Day at the Texas Capitol South Steps. The event will be from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and will feature a variety of speakers including Senator Huffman, Representative Senfronia Thompson, Hillary England from the Office of the Governor and John Nehme from Allies Against Slavery. Concluding speeches, attendees will be asked to participate in a symbolic pouring of blue sand into the sidewalk cracks representing Texas’ anti-trafficking efforts to help human trafficking victims from falling through the cracks.
Light the Way End Human Trafficking
Lunch and Learn Series 2024
Join us every Thursday in January as DFPS hosts webinars with subject matter experts over the lunch hour to speak about various human trafficking intersections and topics.
January 4, 2024
From the Street for the Street: A Lived Experience Lens
Rachel D. Fischer
On Demand: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8388066892510948958
January 11, 2024
Reducing Vulnerabilities for Human Trafficking
Ada McCloud
On Demand: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7599653283877744733
Reminder: Wear Blue Day #WearBlueDay
January 18, 2024
Business Models in Human Trafficking Investigations
Ale Levi
Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4868179427105356888
January 25, 2024
Collaborative Settings: Building Partnerships and a Coordinated Response to Serve all Human Trafficking Survivors
Iris Resendez, David Lunan, and Jesse Izaguirre
On Demand: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2423372442942696031
Office of the Governor Child Sex Trafficking Team
Monthly Webinar Series - January Installment
Please join the Child Sex Trafficking Team for the January installment of its Monthly Webinar Series. “Human Trafficking and Persons with Disabilities: Intersections and Opportunities for Prevention, Intervention, and Healing,” will explore topics such as vulnerability to exploitation for persons with disabilities, the often-disabling health impacts of trafficking, disability resources and rights in Texas, and improving service accessibility and programming for clients with disabilities.
Register:
https://txgov-us.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_eNDrWIoYQNWR7RVv98kKvQ#/registration
Blue Lights in Texas
Blue lights in the month of January symbolize support for victims and survivors of human trafficking. Show your support with blue lights from your porch, home, business, organization to your place of worship. Can't light a whole building blue? Feel free to be creative and let your #TXBlueLights shine. Be sure to tag DFPS on social media using handle: @TexasDFPS
Email your photos to: HumanTrafficking@dfps.texas.gov
Human Trafficking Prevention Month History
President Obama proclaimed January as the Human Trafficking Prevention Month in 2010. Following the start of Human Trafficking Prevention Month, National Human Trafficking Day began and is observed annually on January 11.
During the Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the priority is to shine a light on every dark corner where human trafficking still threatens the basic rights and freedoms of others.
Victims of human trafficking are often invisible because we do not recognize indicators of human trafficking. Identifying signs of human trafficking and reporting a tip may save a life.
Together, every Texan can protect and help those who have been trafficked heal and bring offenders to justice. Be informed and attend an event!
Our fight against human trafficking is one of the great human rights causes of our time, and the United States will continue to lead it - in partnership with you. The change we seek will not come easy, but we can draw strength from the movements of the past. For we know that every life saved - in the words of that great Proclamation - is 'an act of justice' worthy of 'the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.'
- President Barack Obama, September 25, 2012