National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is observed every year on January 11.

This observance was started in 2011 by a Presidential Proclamation of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Presidential Proclamation, designating each January to be National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

The anniversary of this proclamation became known as National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

Slavery was officially abolished in the USA by the Thirteenth Amendment in December 1865, however, its form still exists to date. Present day the USA is the source, transit and destination country for modern day slavery: children, women, and men.

People can be of foreign nationalities or the citizens of the USA, but they are all subjected to injustices of human trafficking, including sex trafficking, forced labor, involuntary servitude, forced marriage, and debt bondage. Many mass campaigns are organized to observe National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

5-stones members participated in holding signs and walking on College Avenue to alert citizens of Fox Cities/Appleton of the dangers of sex trafficking and its impact on our community. We were part of the greater group of students and members of Damascus’s Road and Oak Homes.

The non-profits help raise public awareness of today’s modern day slavery. Their key focus is to bring education and awareness to members of our community and ultimately “protect our youth”.