A coalition of faith-based groups and other organizations will rally on Friday morning, Jan. 11, on the steps of the State House in Trenton for Human Trafficking Awareness Day.
The rally, led by the NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking, is aimed at bringing notice to legislative efforts to combat human trafficking, which is the use of force, fraud, and/or coercion for sexual exploitation or forced labor. The New Jersey Catholic Conference is a member of the NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking.
The U.S. State Department estimates that 600,000-800,000 people are trafficked in the United States annually; this includes sex trafficking, where children, teenagers and adults are forced into prostitution, and labor trafficking, where victims are forced into involuntary servitude, debt bondage and slavery. More than 50 percent of the trafficking victims worldwide are estimated to be under the age of 18.
“The scourge of human trafficking is an offense against the fundamental human dignity of the person,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement on their website.
For more information call 973-929-3087.