January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Since 2010, our nation has dedicated January to raising awareness and promoting education about the reality of human trafficking, which is currently a multibillion-dollar annual industry with over 50 million victims worldwide.
This reality is staggering, but something we know to be true at Engage Together® is that while human trafficking is a global problem, the solutions are often local. Which means that every person can become equipped, right where you are, to make a difference – in your current job, community, city, state, and stage of life.
So as we round out National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we’d like to highlight some powerful pockets of community action across the United States. The following community leaders, organizations, universities, and businesses became aware and decided to make a difference, often in their own backyard. We are excited to share them with you.
- Project Light Rowan: Project Light Rowan has educated hundreds of people on awareness and prevention in their local communities, and has mobilized their local citizens to come alongside many organizations and government agencies to address human trafficking and support survivors in Rowan County, North Carolina. They are also utilizing courses and resources from our friends at Justice U™!
- Dear Dinah: Dear Dinah has created a community for survivors in Ohio whose mission is to create a safe place for survivors of human trafficking; to help raise awareness to the realities of this crisis; and to walk alongside already existing organizations and ministries in order to create a connected community of people who are devoted to protecting and empowering the vulnerable.
- The SOAP Project: A unique, hands-on community program in Ohio, The SOAP Project is passionate about helping to restore survivors to lead empowered, independent lives. Since its founding in 2009, The SOAP Project has given away over two million bars of soap labeled with the National Human Trafficking Hotline number across the United States and assisted in rescuing many victims.
- Hire Hope: The Hire Hope program, created by Randstad US, provides pathways to living wage jobs and careers for survivors of human trafficking in Atlanta, and their efforts were also recognized in 2023 by the World Economic Forum’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Lighthouse Program.
- The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE): Based out of Washington, D.C., NCOSE combats sexual abuse and exploitation with a multi-faceted and interdisciplinary approach through advocacy, litigation, legislation, and research. Visit their website for resources of all kinds to share with those in your community, including articles, an extensive media library, information about recent public policy updates, and more.
- Viable: In Tennessee, Viable builds bridges on the local level by creating opportunities for education, vocation, and community support for individuals who have overcome regional conflicts, war and atrocities, domestic violence, human trafficking, aging out/transition from foster care, incarceration, and substance abuse.
- Open Table: Open Table is a pionnering organization that builds communities within a local communities through a model that trains people from an array of community sectors — including business, education, faith communities, healthcare and others — to organize and co-invest their abundant and sustainable relational and social capital in individuals with complex needs and solutions to daunting social challenges.
- Rotary: The Community Action Against Human Trafficking Club is a virtual Rotary Cause Club with Rotary International that can be joined from anywhere in the world via Zoom. They leverage the power of their community to help women incarcerated for trafficking crimes through the Intersection to Care Project and mentor women who are scheduled to discharge from prison to assist them with identifying a safe re-entry path.
- STU: The Human Trafficking Academy at St. Thomas University in Florida recognizes the inherent value, worth, and dignity of each human being. They develop education programs, conduct research, and instruct law and policy to fight human trafficking throughout the world and empower survivor leadership in the global community. We are excited to partner with them through the Engage Together® Project in South Florida!
- SMU: The Human Trafficking Data Research Project at Southern Methodist University in Dallas helps make human trafficking data work by facilitating collaborative efforts to enhance human trafficking data efficacy to broaden collective knowledge and utilization. We are excited to partner with them through the Engage Together® Project in Dallas-Fort Worth!
- USF: The BRIGHT Tool at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg is an online, vetted, secure, resource referral network for those who look for and/or those who provide services to individuals of trafficking. BRIGHT allows providers to help their clients connect to services in a timelier manner, without the need for multiple searches or calls. We are excited to partner with them through the Engage Together® Project in South Florida!
- Belmont: The Belmont Data Collaborative at Belmont University in Tennessee aims to empower individuals to think differently with data and to provide a framework for community-level analytics and projects for good. We are excited to partner with them through the Engage Together® Projects across the nation, and especially in Tennessee!
- The Knoble: This unique nonprofit serves as an alliance of financial service professionals, law enforcement, regulators, and NGOs who are joining forces to lead and innovate more effective ways to fight human crime. Last year, we were honored to participate in a training on labor trafficking hosted by The Knoble.
- Pomerol Partners: Pomerol builds industry-leading, business-focused data solutions and specializes in data and data-driven projects. We are thrilled to have them as one of our national partners for all our Engage Together® Projects to strengthen local community insights. In 2024, Pomerol joined us for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s event recognizing World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, which took place last July.
- Qlik: The amazing team at Qlik helps organizations use data to solve problems, meet new objectives, and address critical business needs. They’re an industry leader in data integration and analytics solutions, and they’re also one of our national partners for Engage Together® Projects. We are thrilled to have them on our team! You can listen in to our founder and Qlik leadership on the #WomenWhoQlik: Empowering Change Through Data virtual event, which was an informative discussion on how data can be leveraged to drive positive impact.
Stories like these are inspiring examples of the transformation that can happen in local communities when individuals move from awareness to action. From concerned citizens to nonprofit leaders, from technologists to finance professionals, from universities to pioneering business leaders, everyone has a part to play and everyone is needed. We hope these stories and resources encourage you to lean in, continue learning more, and take action in your own community as you continue your journey in the fight to end human trafficking and protect the vulnerable, this National Human Trafficking Prevention Month and every month forward.