PHOENIX — Former Governor Ducey has proclaimed January 2020 as Human Trafficking Prevention Month to recognize Arizona's commitment to combatting human trafficking and protecting victims' rights and restoring their freedom and dignity.
View text of the proclamation below
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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 the overall total; 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 231 cases in Arizona during 2018, of which 158 were for sex trafficking; and
WHEREAS, the 2019 Youth Experiences Survey found that more than half of homeless young adult participants experienced at least one 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 2020 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 second day of January in the year
Two Thousand and Twenty and of the Independence of the United States of America
the Two Hundred and Forty-Fourth
ATTEST:
SECRETARY OF STATE
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