Lawyer Things to Do for National Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Day
Since 2010, the month of January has been designated as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and in 2007, January 11 was declared as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
If you have any doubts that human trafficking and slavery are still problems, there's plenty of information out there to show you the error of your ways. Getting informed and getting involved doesn't require personally chasing down bad guys, though depending on your area of practice, being informed means you might actually be able to help victims.
How to Identify Human Trafficking
For attorneys that work directly with individual clients, or perhaps conduct fact discovery via in person interviews, being able to identify victims of human trafficking could literally save a person's life. Some of the common signs of human trafficking include:
- Multiple people living in cramped spaces
- Poor living conditions
- Living with an employer
- Employee always has to check with employer before speaking/acting
- Employee seems fearful, submissive, or shows signs of physical abuse
If you suspect human trafficking, you can call that National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888. If you have more than an inkling or vague suspicion, you may also want to consider contacting local law enforcement.
How Else Can You Help?
One easy way you can help is by counseling corporate, business, or employer, clients, on the importance of training their employees to spot human trafficking, especially in the hospitality industry.
If you want to help in the fight against human trafficking, apart from donating time and money to the non-profit organizations leading the fight, you can take the free CLE available on PLI.edu on Human Trafficking and Forced Labor.
You can also go to the various websites that report on what consumer products are made by companies that utilize forced labor. This will allow you to put your money where your beliefs are. After all, speaking with your purchasing power is one of the few avenues consumers have to tell companies they won't stand for complacency in human trafficking.
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