Today is the National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Christians are called to pray and fast from January 11-13th to seek for God’s guidance as many organizations strive to provide for the immediate needs of victims of human trafficking.
Human trafficking, both for labor and sex trade, is among the largest and fastest-growing criminal enterprises in the world, earning its perpetrators an estimated $32 billion annually. Labor trafficking dominates much of the world economy and accounts for upwards of two-thirds of the estimated 20+ million people enslaved today. Sex trafficking is the more common form in the U.S., and the average age at which a child is forced into prostitution in America is 12-14.
A White House release marking January as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month called upon businesses, religious groups and families to learn more about the fight against trafficking and outlined what the government will do.
"We will continue to take action by empowering investigators and law enforcement with the training they need, and by engaging businesses, advocates, and students in developing cutting-edge tools people can use to stay safe," the release stated. "We will invest in helping trafficking victims rebuild their lives. And as one of the world's largest purchasers of goods and services, the Federal Government will keep leading by example, further strengthening protections to help ensure that American tax dollars never support forced labor."
Tomas J. Lares of Orlando, founder of the national Weekend of Prayer to End Slavery and Trafficking, states that "Our Weekend of Prayer National Leadership Task Force and our partners believe that we can best fight this scourge of evil through prayer and wisdom from God,”
“It is essential that people of faith exercise leadership roles in this fight, the greatest civil rights issue in the world today, just as religious leaders in the nineteenth century led the fight to end slavery in their age, and religious leaders led the fight for civil rights in this country. It is morally intolerable that slavery still exists in America in the twenty-first century and we must do all that we can to bring an end to this evil. ”said Lares.
For more information of how you can participate in this prayer and faster events, please visit
