It’s my privilege to write to you at the start of 2021 and to announce major events to launch Iowa’s observance of “Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month”. We invite you to join us for these virtual events and thereby join the movement to end human trafficking in Iowa.
How You Can Help Fight Trafficking in 2021
New Year 2021 greetings to our Iowa NAHT blog subscribers. Worldwide there are at least 40.3 million people trafficked and enslaved. One in four of these exploited and abused souls is under the age of 18. According to the 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report issued by the US State Department, the number of victims assisted last year was a mere 99,000, which is only 0.2% of victims enslaved worldwide. There were only 8,000 convictions of traffickers worldwide which is only 0.8% of the 500,000 criminals who traffick. Obviously, we anti-trafficking advocates have a huge challenge ahead of us.
So how can you as an individual help in the fight against human trafficking and slavery? As a first step, you can educate yourself about modern-day slavery and help others to become aware of the problem. You can insist that businesses check their supply chains for slavery produced goods. January 2021 is an especially good time to learn the facts about trafficking. In recognition of Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, there are numerous Iowa webinars and training opportunities. These events are free and can be found in this blog post.
You can also donate funds to anti-trafficking organizations such as the Iowa NAHT. If you go to https://giveiowa.org/, your gift to the Network will be matched dollar for dollar by the Greater Iowa Credit Union. This is being offered by GICU in celebration of Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
You can also urge your political representatives to promote and/or strengthen anti-trafficking laws. Anti-trafficking legislative priorities for 2021 may be found here. Your advocacy gives you a great opportunity to join forces with the NAHT board and other allies from across Iowa to improve public policy.
Governor’s Proclamation Declaring January 2021 Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month
The NAHT will host the public signing of a proclamation by Governor Kim Reynolds designating January 2021 as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The proclamation declaration will take place on Thursday, January 14th at 11:00 a.m. in the Rotunda of the State Capitol Building in Des Moines. Due to the risk of Covid-19 infection all anti-trafficking advocates attending this annual event must wear masks. Chairs on the Rotunda will be placed six feet apart.
Outstanding Anti-Trafficking Service Awards will also be presented by the NAHT and Governor on January 14 immediately following the proclamation signing. These five exceptional Iowa anti-trafficking heroes include:
- Ruth Buckels, Advocate Extraordinaire – Foster/adoptive parent to 8 sex trafficked female survivors. Ruth is also a licensed therapist and has been a counselor to dozens of victims and survivors. For more information, click here.
- Marc Kirkbaum, U.S. Attorney For The Southern District of Iowa – When Marc Kirkbaum became U.S. Attorney, he prioritized human trafficking investigation and prosecution. For more information, click here.
- West Liberty Rotary Club – This service club organized four anti-trafficking education and prevention projects for the public schools and community at large. For more information, click here.
- Iowa City Human Trafficking Law Enforcement Task Force – This task force carried out a sex trafficking investigation that received what is considered the highest federal honor for victim services by law enforcement. For more information, click here.
- Stacy West, Survivor Who Has Now Turned Her Scars Into Stars – According to her nominator, Stacy is the very definition of a trafficking “survivor”. For more information, click here.
Register for January 12 Iowa Freedom Summit and January 28th Race Matters: Confronting the Roots of Human Trafficking Webinar
Here are two free seminars that are being held in celebration of Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
- Iowa’s Freedom Summit: Details and registration click here, Download Flyer click here (PDF)
- Race Matters: Confronting the Roots of Human Trafficking: Details and registration click here, Download Flyer click here (PDF)
Monday, January 11th is Wear Blue Day
On Monday, January 11th we ask that you wear blue to show your support for human trafficking awareness. The color blue is the international color of human trafficking awareness. The Department of Homeland Security created this initiative to draw attention to this horrific crime. The NAHT is asking all anti-trafficking advocates to wear blue clothing in order to increase recognition. We also ask you to encourage your friends and family to participate and share pictures of you wearing blue on social media with the #WearBlueDay hashtag. You can find more information about this here.
Two More Anti-Trafficking Learning Opportunities
On Monday, January 18th, there will be a showing of the documentary film, “GRIDSHOCK” about sex trafficking in Iowa. Gridshock was filmed here in Iowa and tells the shocking story about sex trafficking in our state. Learn the reality from survivors, buyers, and sex addicts. The flyer below gives the Zoom link (send email to thughes@catholiccharitiesdm.org).
There will be a free seminar from 8:00-1:30pm CST on global human trafficking Wednesday, January 27th. The Rotary Action Group Against Slavery is hosting this webinar and each hour will have a different topic on the global fight against human trafficking. In addition to a keynote addressed by Ambassador John Cotton Richmond (who leads the US State Department Office to Combat Human Trafficking) there will be several topics such as health care, survivor services, and prevention/education. Register using the this link as shown in the flyer below.
