Help Fight Human Trafficking
January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. DFPS makes fighting against human trafficking a priority, and strives to improve awareness, services, and prevention efforts to help eradicate trafficking in Texas.
Get the 2023 participation guide for ideas and activities that anyone can use to help fight human trafficking.
2023 Highlights
A Week of Prayer to End Human Trafficking: January 9 - January 15, 2023
Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott announced that the Governor's Response Against Child Exploitation (GRACE) initiative will host the second annual Week of Prayer to End Human Trafficking from January 9 through January 15, 2023. The statewide interfaith week of prayer coincides with Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the state of Texas and serves as a call to action to the faith-based community to unite in prayer, learn more about human trafficking, and discern opportunities to prevent exploitation and support survivors.
GRACE will launch the Week of Prayer to End Human Trafficking through a virtual interfaith kickoff event January 9 at 7 p.m. on Facebook. The event will include remarks from the First Lady and Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) Commissioner Stephanie Muth, prayer, and a panel discussion of faith leaders and members of the Office of the Governor's Child Sex Trafficking Team (CSTT).
Wear Blue Day: January 11, 2023
January 11 is National Human Trafficking Day. Join DFPS staff and take photos of friends, family, yourself, and colleagues wearing blue clothing, and then share them on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram – along with the #WearBlueDay hashtag. Anyone can participate. All you need is a piece of blue clothing! Be sure to tag DFPS on social media using handle: @TexasDFPS
Email your photos to: HumanTrafficking@dfps.texas.gov
Light the Way End Human Trafficking: Lunch and Learn Series 2023
Join us every Friday in January as DFPS hosts webinars with subject matter experts over the lunch hour to speak about various human trafficking intersections and topics. A special faith-based panel is scheduled for Wednesday, January 18!
Friday January 6, 2023
Tackling the Issues of Human Trafficking
Dr. Tonya Stafford-Manning
Replay: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8660242191908500315
Friday January 13, 2023
Reducing Elopement in CSEY Through Strengths-Based Approaches
Sarah Hall and Erin Argue
Replay: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5239963883752681560
Wednesday January 18, 2023
Faith Based Champions
Panel members: Mira Boyda, Bishop James Dixon, Leigh Kohler, and Vicky Payne,
Replay: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/9001020428067533913
Friday January 20, 2023
How to Effectively Meet the Needs of Male Survivors
Judge Robert Lung and Suleman Masood
Replay: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/673659108385194326
Friday January 27, 2023
Understanding Buyers is the Key to Stopping the Demand for Human Trafficking
John Pulley
Replay: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6981522132711841878
Blue Lights in Texas
Blue lights in the month of January symbolize support for victims and survivors of human trafficking. Show your support with blue lights from your porch, home, business, organization to your place of worship. Can't light a whole building blue? Feel free to be creative and let your #TXBlueLights shine. Be sure to tag DFPS on social media using handle: @TexasDFPS
Email your photos to: HumanTrafficking@dfps.texas.gov
Human Trafficking Prevention Month History
President Obama proclaimed January as the Human Trafficking Prevention Month in 2010. Following the start of Human Trafficking Prevention Month, National Human Trafficking Day began and is observed annually on January 11.
During the Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the priority is to shine a light on every dark corner where human trafficking still threatens the basic rights and freedoms of others.
Victims of human trafficking are often invisible because we do not recognize indicators of human trafficking. Identifying signs of human trafficking and reporting a tip may save a life.
Together, every Texan can protect and help those who have been trafficked heal and bring offenders to justice. Be informed and attend an event!
Our fight against human trafficking is one of the great human rights causes of our time, and the United States will continue to lead it - in partnership with you. The change we seek will not come easy, but we can draw strength from the movements of the past. For we know that every life saved - in the words of that great Proclamation - is 'an act of justice' worthy of 'the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.'
- President Barack Obama, September 25, 2012