Human Trafficking Awareness Month

Human Trafficking Awareness Month

(January 7, 2025, Salisbury, MD) Human trafficking is a public health issue that affects more than 27
million people globally. Human trafficking is the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person
into labor or commercial sex against their will. Human trafficking exists in cities, suburbs, and rural
areas. Anyone can experience human trafficking, regardless of race, nationality, age, and gender.
Conditions like poverty, unstable housing, a history of trauma, or a history of addiction can put some
individuals at greater risk of trafficking. Migrants, people of color, women, children, and LGBTQ+
people are more likely to be exploited for these vulnerabilities and face trafficking.

Traffickers are commonly people who are familiar. They can be business owners, bosses, family
members, and intimate partners. Some traffickers search for victims online. Traffickers might use
violence, manipulation, false promises, or romantic relationships to exploit victims. Individuals can
help address human trafficking in our community by looking for the signs. Someone may be
experiencing human trafficking if they:
● are living and working in isolated, dangerous, or inhumane conditions;
● do not have control over their own passport or other identity documents;
● are being threatened by their employer with deportation or other harm;
● being monitor by a person that tracks their movements, spending, and interactions; or
● feeling pressured by their employer to stay in a job that they want to leave.

To get help or to report human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-
7888, text 233733, or visit humantraffickinghotline.org
If you or someone you know is in need of immediate local assistance, call Life Crisis Center at 410-
749-HELP or visit their website lifecrisiscenter.org.

More information about human trafficking can be found on these websites: polarisproject.org,
humantraffickinghotline.org, and dhs.gov/blue-campaign. Those who wish to learn more may also call
Wicomico County Health Department, Prevention and Health Communications at 410-334-3480.

# # #