Join us in the fight against child sex trafficking
Banding together in blue
Join #WearBlueDay Jan. 11 to help raise awareness of human trafficking.
January serves as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the United States.
Raising awareness is often crucial to fostering prevention. Addressing the social and public health concerns of human trafficking is no exception. Within the month, Jan. 11 is recognized as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
To help raise awareness of human trafficking this Jan. 11, Blue Campaign will lead #WearBlueDay.
What is #WearBlueDay?
The #WearBlueDay event centers on a social media campaign that will promote recognition of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day on Jan. 11.
The initiative is the largest of Blue Campaign, a national public awareness campaign of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The campaign is “designed to educate the public, law enforcement, and other industry partners to recognize the indicators of human trafficking, and how to appropriately respond to possible cases.”
With #WearBlueDay, the campaign invites the public to join in spreading awareness of human trafficking. All that is required is bringing creativity and something blue to wear to social media.
Why blue?
What makes blue the color of choice for raising awareness about human trafficking?
Blue Campaign explains that the “color blue is internationally symbolic of human trafficking awareness, and the Blue Campaign’s name references the global anti-human trafficking symbols the Blue Heart and the Blue Blindfold, as well as the “thin blue line” of law enforcement.”
A snapshot of the cause behind the campaign
Human trafficking is an illegal practice that the DHS defines as involving “exploiting a person for the purposes of compelled labor or a commercial sex act.” The crime reaches all corners of the world. Some statistics to know:
- In 2020, human trafficking cases were reported to compose an estimated $150 billion industry of illicit profits globally.
- In 2021, about 25 million people worldwide were estimated to be victims of human trafficking.
- In 2022, cases of the crime were reported in all 50 U.S. states and across international territories.
Another aspect of human trafficking it’s essential to recognize is that the crime can happen to anyone in any community. The DHS outlines common myths and misconceptions surrounding human trafficking.
Blue Campaign unites the efforts of many DHS components in alignment with the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking. Through the #WearBlueDay campaign and related efforts, they strive to maximize the public’s engagement with anti-trafficking efforts. Such engagement is crucial to building public awareness. Increasing community awareness can help bring protection to exploited or at-risk individuals nationwide.
Members of the public who wear blue on Jan. 11 in support of the cause can become a crucial part of the education process.
How to participate
There are many ways to take part in the #WearBlueDay initiative. Some ideas for how to participate and show your blues offered by Blue Campaign include:
- Snap a selfie.
- Share a video.
- Take a group photo.
- Challenge your friends, family, or colleagues and other ways.
You can share your social media content for the campaign on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Use the tag @DHSBlueCampaign and the #WearBlueDay hashtag to connect with the DHS.
For more inspiration, view more ways organizations nationwide have contributed to the campaign in past years. Social media shareables are also available for graphics to post for the event.
Note: Posts that tag @DHSBlueCampaign and use the hashtag #WearBlueDay can be repurposed for training, education, awareness, paid media and TV purposes.
Continuing the efforts throughout the year
The need for human trafficking awareness stems past the day dedicated to its recognition. Building effective awareness and prevention nationwide requires a whole-year and whole-of-society approach.
Blue Campaign will host several special events and educational activities throughout January to spread awareness. These events include webinars on recognizing and responding to potential cases of human trafficking available to the public, along with a virtual forum on human trafficking and youth for caretakers and adults who work with youth.
The campaign also offers a variety of online training resources year-round. The resources bring greater awareness of human trafficking to first responders, law enforcement, youth professionals, retail employees and the general public.
Even more ways exist to participate in human trafficking prevention efforts year-round.
The following resources offer a deeper look into human trafficking across the globe and prevention actions you can join nationwide: