Human Trafficking Awareness Month
And
Human Trafficking Awareness Day
2025
By the Governor of the State of North Carolina
A Proclamation
Whereas, human trafficking is a heinous crime that involves the exploitation of adults and children for sex or labor and harms public safety and health; and
Whereas, the crime of human trafficking involves the recruitment, enticement, transportation, transfer, harboring, providing, patronizing, soliciting, obtaining, or receipt of persons through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation; or when any commercial sex act is committed upon a person who has not reached 18 years of age; and
Whereas, victims and survivors of trafficking often endure physical and psychological abuse, inadequate living conditions, and a lack of basic freedoms; and
Whereas, agencies funded by the North Carolina Department of Administration’s Council for Women and Youth Involvement reported serving 767 human trafficking survivors between July 1, 2023 and June 30, 2024; and
Whereas, during the 2024 legislative session, the North Carolina General Assembly established two new anti-human trafficking positions within the Council for Women and Youth Involvement to develop, improve, and expand training, technical assistance, and resources for statewide anti-trafficking initiatives; and passed House Bill 971 requiring human trafficking awareness training for employees and contractors of lodging establishments and vacation rentals; and
Whereas, while human trafficking affects people of all races, religions, genders, ages, and socioeconomic statuses, it disproportionately impacts populations such as immigrants, refugees, Black and Indigenous people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and individuals living in poverty or experiencing abuse and violence; and
Whereas, addressing human trafficking requires a comprehensive, coordinated, community-wide effort involving survivor leaders, healthcare providers, community organizations, communities of faith, businesses, law enforcement, and policymakers; and
Whereas, Human Trafficking Awareness Month provides an opportunity to recognize the critical partnership between the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission, the Council for Women and Youth Involvement, victim service providers, law enforcement agencies, and other organizations, and the role that all North Carolinians have in preventing and responding to this crime and to serving victims and survivors;
Now, therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim January 2025, as “Human Trafficking Awareness Month” and January 11, 2025, as “Human Trafficking Awareness Day” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in the City of Raleigh, this seventh day of January in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-five and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.
Josh Stein
Governor