This month, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Blue Campaign is marking an important milestone - six years of work to combat human trafficking in the United States. Since 2010, the Blue Campaign has served as the unified voice for the Department’s efforts to combat human trafficking.
Throughout the past year, we have made significant strides in our efforts to raise public consciousness of human trafficking across the United States, through law enforcement trainings, public awareness materials, and resources for both government and private sector partners.
The Blue Campaign recently expanded our suite of tools and resources. In the coming year, we plan to release a new Public Service Announcement, as well as new awareness materials depicting the different types of human trafficking and its many victims in communities across the United States.
In the past year, the Blue Campaign has greatly increased the number of people who can recognize the signs of human trafficking through training and educational materials. For the first time, the DHS Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) included human trafficking awareness training in its basic training courses for over 90 federal law enforcement agencies. We also introduced online awareness materials for Native American communities, DHS employees, and different industries; and trained hundreds of airline personnel through the Blue Lightning Initiative. Through our train-the-trainer programs, we hope to reach even more people in the coming year.
The Blue Campaign is proud to stand alongside many others in this fight, because no one combats human trafficking alone. In the past year, we entered nine formal partnerships with the North Dakota Public Health Association; the Houston Mayor’s Office; the Birmingham, Alabama Mayor’s Office; the California Hotel and Lodging Association; the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission; the D.C. Office of Human Rights; and the Virginia Office of the Attorney General. In the coming year, we hope to add even more partners that can help spread awareness across the country and increase the number of individuals, families, and communities across the nation who have learned to recognize and report human trafficking.
Six years in, we have made great strides in our efforts to raise public awareness and identify and rescue more victims of trafficking. But we need your help. To learn more about the Blue Campaign and to get involved, visit www.dhs.gov/bluecampaign