BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force has made today, Jan. 11, Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
Human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal activity on the planet, and Alabama is far from immune to the problem. In fact, Interstate 20 that goes through Birmingham and Tuscaloosa has been deemed “the superhighway for human trafficking in the United States.” I-10, I-65, and I-85 are also frequented by human traffickers.
Human trafficking is defined as a type of modern-day slavery where individuals profit from the exploitation of others through three different ways of coercion: forced labor, sex trafficking, or debt bondage. Somewhere between 600,000 and 800,000 people are estimated to be trafficked throughout the United States each year.
The Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force was established in 2014 to combat these issues. The group dedicated January as an awareness month to “coordinate strategies to provide necessary services for victims of human trafficking and create awareness through education and community initiatives.”
After the awareness month concludes, the eighth annual Human Trafficking Summit will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in Montgomery on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022.
To learn more about the Alabama Human Trafficking Task Force and the Summit, visit their website.
