PHOENIX — Former Governor Ducey has proclaimed January 2021 as Human Trafficking Prevention Month to recognize Arizona's continued commitment to combatting human trafficking while protecting victims' rights and restoring their freedom and dignity.
View text of the proclamation below
***
WHEREAS, human trafficking is a form of slavery that can affect anyone and particularly victimizes vulnerable populations and negatively impacts our communities; and
WHEREAS, human trafficking occurs when a person is recruited, harbored, transported, or obtained for the purpose of commercial sex, forced labor, involuntary servitude, debt bondage, or slavery through force, fraud, or coercion, or if the victim has not reached the age of eighteen; and
WHEREAS, human trafficking denies freedom to 24.9 million people in the United States and around the world; and
WHEREAS, women and girls are disproportionately affected by modern slavery, accounting for 28.7 million, or 71 percent of modern slavery victims; and
WHEREAS, the International Labor Organization estimates that human trafficking is a $150 billion industry worldwide; and that $99 billion is generated from forced sexual exploitation; and
WHEREAS, the National Human Trafficking Hotline reported 234 cases in Arizona during 2019, of which 150 were for sex trafficking; and
WHEREAS, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children experienced a 98.66% increase in online enticement reports and a 63.31% increase in CyberTipline reports between January and September 2020 versus the same time period in 2019; and
WHEREAS, the 2020 Youth Experiences Survey found that almost half of the young adult participants experienced at least some form of human trafficking; and
WHEREAS, Arizona policymakers have worked diligently to combat human trafficking through the adoption of laws prohibiting and preventing human trafficking; and
WHEREAS, the Governor's Arizona Human Trafficking Council has made significant strides in the areas of public awareness, victim services, data collection, and training in order to protect Arizona against this crime; and
WHEREAS, Arizona is committed to ensuring it is a zero-tolerance state for any form of human exploitation; and
WHEREAS, Arizona is committed to protecting victims' rights and restoring their freedom and dignity.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Douglas A. Ducey, Governor of the State of Arizona, do hereby proclaim January 2021 as
HUMAN TRAFFICKING PREVENTION MONTH
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to
be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Arizona
GOVERNOR
DONE at the Capitol in Phoenix on this tenth day of December in the
year Two Thousand and Twenty and of the Independence of the United
States of America the Two Hundred and Forty-Fifth.
ATTEST:
SECRETARY OF STATE
###