National Human Trafficking Awareness Day is Saturday, January 11, 2014. Today, HHS faculty and students wore black tee-shirts in support of  law enforcement efforts to draw attention to this horrible situation. It is believed that large events, such as the upcoming Super Bowl, cause a spike in human trafficking. The wearing of black shirts was intended to remind everyone at the high school that human slavery still exists right here in New Jersey.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, every year, thousands of men, women and children fall into the hands of traffickers. Forms of exploitation include “forced prostitution, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.”

In a Proclamation dated December 31, 2014, President Obama stated: “I call on every nation, every community, and every individual to fight human trafficking wherever it exists. Let us declare as one that slavery has no place in our world, and let us finally restore to all people the most basic rights of freedom, dignity, and justice.”