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January 2025 is Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

Did you know January is Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Month? It’s an opportunity to deepen your understanding of this complex crime, learn how it’s evolving, and take action against it here in Iowa.

Every day, traffickers withhold the freedom of innocent people –stealing their rights, dreams, irreplaceable time, and ability to provide financially.

What we don’t understand, we can’t change. But the more you know about human trafficking, the greater the impact you will have. Awareness is the starting place for prevention, victim identification, and stopping the crisis of human trafficking. Without awareness, innocent Iowans will continue to be deceived by traffickers and exploited for their bodies and labor. Victims currently caught in trafficking may go unidentified because of the lack of individual or cultural awareness.

Together, we can change that. This January 2025, let’s amplify awareness to ignite advocacy.

So how can you, as an individual help in 2025 to fight against human trafficking and slavery? As a first step, you can attend the Wednesday, January 15 Governor’s proclamation signing on the Rotunda of the State Capitol Building at 11:30 a.m. This will be a good opportunity to educate yourself about modern slavery and help others to become aware of this growing crime.

You can insist that businesses check their supply chains for slavery-produced goods. You can also ask local businesses to become an Iowa Business Against Trafficking (IBAT) member by going to https://ibat.iowa.gov. Since our Iowa Secretary of State launched this unique anti-trafficking program in January 2022, over 800 businesses have joined IBAT.

You can donate funds in 2025 to anti-trafficking organizations such as the Iowa NAHT. If you go to https://iowanaht.org/donate-now, your gift to the Network can be completed quickly using your credit card or PayPal.

You can urge your state representatives to propose and/or strengthen anti-trafficking laws. Tap here for the NAHT anti-trafficking legislative priorities for 2025. Speaking to your local legislators allows you to join forces with the NAHT board and other allies from across Iowa to improve public policy. A good day to visit with your Iowa representative and senator would be Wednesday, January 15, NAHT Day at the Legislature.

January 2025 is an especially good time to learn the facts about trafficking. In recognition of Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, there are numerous Iowa events and training opportunities. These statewide events are free and can be found in this NAHT blog post/newsletter.

For 11 more ideas on how you can volunteer in 2025 to fight human trafficking, tap here: How you can help to end modern slavery/human trafficking in 2024.

Wednesday, January 15 Governor’s Proclamation Signing and Six Outstanding Service Awards

On Wednesday, January 15, the NAHT will host a public singing of the proclamation by Governor Kim Reynolds designating January 2025 as Slavery and Human Trafficking Month. The proclamation will take place 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Rotunda of the State Capitol Building in Des Moines. All anti-trafficking advocates are invited to attend to share support for human trafficking awareness. The network will also be handing out the 2025 legislative priorities. The network encourages you to take time after the event to visit with your representative and senator.

Following the proclamation signing, six outstanding service human trafficking awards will also be presented immediately following the proclamation signing. The exceptional anti-trafficking unsung heroes and organizations are:

Secretary of State Paul Pate: The Iowa SOS is the leading Iowa State agency in the fight against human trafficking. The agency created the IBAT initiative with over 800 businesses learning/doing something to fight human trafficking. IBAT has been replicated by several other states.

Monica Petersen (posthumous): Monica grew up in Ames, IA and her parents were both Ames school teachers. From a young age, Monica was concerned with the exploitation and abuse of women. Example: Her high school 4-H project was to make 50 baby blankets and 50 teddy bears for the babies of young single and vulnerable mothers. In college at ISU, she turned her attention to the crime of sex trafficking victims. After graduation, she enrolled in an international master’s degree program at the University of Denver and completed with a degree in Human Trafficking and Slavery. She became a research fellow at the Human Trafficking Center and was a member of the Colorado Governor’s Human Trafficking Council. She was murdered by traffickers in Haiti.

 Dr. George Belitsos: George is an outstanding anti-trafficking volunteer leader in Iowa and globally. He was the first child welfare executive to recognize and fight child sex trafficking, especially among runaway, homeless, LGBTQ, and foster care youth in Iowa. George serves as a leader on an international anti-slavery board, and has been the NAHT Board chair for six years, and chair of IA District Rotary Prevent Human Trafficking Action Team for three years. He’s been the editor of the NAHT newsletter/blog for seven years, with 180 issues and 1,800 subscribers. He created the IA hotline stickers and has mailed out over 15,000+ stickers for volunteers to post across Iowa.

Rotary Multi-Club Committee (CIVITAS), an IBAT Business: 10 Rotary Clubs have joined forces for three years to host major Iowa H.T. training events, awareness forums, and fundraisers. In the past three years they have raised $91,000 for Central Iowa survivor service providers. In September 2024, the group hosted a two day training for over 100 Iowa law enforcement officers. CIVITAS is an active member of the Iowa Rotary Prevent Human Trafficking Action Team.

Ken Graff Auto Group, an IBAT Business of seven auto dealerships: 50 managers were trained to recognize H.T. The group donated a van to team Jesus of Iowa. This organization is a good IBAT example of learning and doing something to end human trafficking

Iowa Girl Inspired, an IBAT business that has designed and produced items (earrings, keychains, ornaments, etc.) to raise awareness about H.T.: Iowa Girl not only financially benefits Chains Interrupted (CI), but Lisa Becker also volunteers at events and services on the CI board. Lisa is a “Chain breaker,” a select group of dedicated volunteers.

2025 National Human Trafficking Prevention Month Toolkit

January is Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a presidentially designated observance aimed at educating the public about human trafficking and the role people can play in prevention and response. This year’s theme for Prevention Month 2025 is: Connecting the Dots. Strengthening Communities. Preventing Trafficking.

OTIP’s toolkit for National Human Trafficking Prevention Month 2025 focuses on activating partnerships to prevent and respond to human trafficking. The toolkit includes sample social media posts, graphics, newsletter and website copy, and resources. Tap here to view this 30-page toolkit.

Siouxland Coalition Sponsors “Light Up in Blue”

In observance of January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the Siouxland Coalition Against Human Trafficking (SCAHT) has encouraged businesses, agencies, families, and individuals to “light up in blue.”  Many blue-light storefront displays were competing for the best display, and shown here is the Siouxland Coalition window display that will stay lit up in blue through January.

The blue LED lights that cross 4th street in Sioux City will stay blue for January thanks to Downtown Partners. A small sign has been placed in windows that explains why businesses are lighting up in blue to show their involvement in the fight against human trafficking.

January 11 is Human Trafficking Awareness Day as well as Wear Blue Day. Siouxland also encourages all to wear blue (the color for human trafficking awareness) on the 11th to show support and to post something about why participants are concerned about human trafficking on their social media that day.

As always, SCAHT will be asking local governments to sign a proclamation of January as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

Child Trafficking Prevention Conference – 15 Free Virtual Workshops January 11-31

The NAHT wants to share training information about the NYC Administration for Children’s Services’ Office of Child Trafficking Prevention and Policy’s 2025 NYC Child Trafficking Prevention Conference (virtual), which will occur between January 9 and January 31, 2025, in recognition of January as Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The conference will provide 18 professional-level workshops on a variety of trafficking-related topics presented by regional and national experts. They have several completely new workshops and several of their traditional workshops enhanced with new material, all of which directly support their 2025 theme: Assessment, Recognition, and Safety Planning.

All workshops are FREE and will be provided virtually through Microsoft Teams. All workshops are scheduled for Eastern Standard Time (EST). Iowa advocates will need to adjust the training times one hour back for Central Standard Time (CST).

Please note that there are no CEUs or CLEs available for any of the workshops. Registration instructions are located on page one of the program, and the registration links for the workshops are on pages three to five. The program is accessible by tapping here.

Registration is ongoing and can occur right up to the start time. After registering, you will receive an email with the workshop entry link. Save the email to enter the workshop on its scheduled day. Each Team room holds up to 1,000 attendees, so there is space for all.

Everyone is welcome to attend! Professionals of all genres, community members, survivors, stakeholders, parents, foster parents, and young adults ages 18+.

Please send any event-related questions to Traffickingtraining@acs.nyc.go.

Iowa A.G. Proposes Constitutional Amendment on Abused Child Testimony in Court

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is proposing a constitutional amendment to give judges authority to allow children to provide closed-circuit testimony against an alleged abuser. This would also pertain to child victims of human trafficking testifying against the trafficker. It’s a response to a recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling that said defendants have the right to confront their accusers in the courtroom.

“When a child is testifying in court, they’re between six and 10 feet away from their abuser. Imagine testifying in that scenario. It’s scary even for an adult. How much more for a child who’s been hurt?” said Bird, a Republican. “…Unless something changes, we will see fewer prosecutions of crimes against children, particularly those that are brutal. Kids will be too scared to testify and those cases will get dropped. Criminals will walk free.”

Deputy Attorney General Susan Krisko prosecuted the case that was overturned by the court’s ruling. A therapist told the judge the 10-year-old siblings of a toddler who was severely beaten could not testify against their father in the courtroom. “Without that accommodation, those two little boys would not have been able to come in, and we would have had to let that man walk and not prosecute the case. That two-year-old little boy would not have gotten justice,” Krisko said.

Sheriffs, prosecutors, and one child sex trafficking survivor, Birttany Sowder joined a statehouse news conference to express support for the constitutional amendment that would allow children to testify via closed circuit in certain cases. Brittany was recently elected to the NAHT Board of Directors and has written a new book entitled “She Survived.” For more information, tap here.  To watch a 30 minute press conference, tap here.

 TV News Clips & Articles

By on January 2, 2025   /   News