January is set aside by the U.S. Department of State for awareness and education of human trafficking and slavery; to encourage each of us to do our part to identify and prevent these crimes from occurring. The U.S. Department of State estimates reveal more than 27.6 million people, adults and children, are victims of human trafficking around the world.
Definition
According to the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report, states that "The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, as amended (TVPA), defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons” as:
▶ Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age; or
▶ The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
A victim need not be physically transported from one location to another for the crime to fall within this definition." (p. 22)
The devastating reality of the prevalence of this crime demands our time and attention to help in any way we possibly can.
Within the pregnancy help movement, we are uniquely placed in environments that could present opportunities for us to stand for what is right and rescue victims of this crime.
Learn More
To learn more about Human Trafficking and how you can identify and prevent this crime within your pregnancy help medical clinic, the following courses are available within Heartbeat Academy:
● Identifying and Assisting Victims of Sex Trafficking in the Center
● Human Trafficking and the Pregnancy Center
● Serving Survivors of Sex Trafficking
● Sex Trafficking & Abortion
● OnWatch Training
Resources
The National Human Trafficking Hotline can be reached confidentially 24/7 by phone 1-888-373-7888, text, or chat. The website is available to contact the hotline, report a tip, learn how to stay safe, and learn the stats of human trafficking.
