January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month which is an exciting, crazy month for anyone working in anti-trafficking efforts. Why is it crazy? Try searching “human trafficking” on sites like EventBrite or Facebook Events. You’ll find a TON of events happening in your community every week! This is an exciting time for us working in the anti-trafficking movement because it gives us a chance to spotlight an issue we care about every month. Advocacy occurs every day, all year long for task force members however, it isn’t every month we have such a captive audience! At the end of the day the most important responsibility during this month is to make sure survivors’ voices are at the core of all the awareness events and conversations.
Take Action:
- Find an event in your community during January (or ANY month!).
- Start a conversation! Share a news article on Facebook, attend an event with a friend, visit the Polaris website to get informed!
Lauren Vollinger is a doctoral student in the Ecological-Community Psychology program at Michigan State University and a member of the Research Consortium on Gender-Based Violence.