Well, hello again!
You have no idea how I
resisted writing a regular column, but I have really come to enjoy it. There are certainly more things to write
about than I will ever get to, so the problem isn’t finding something to focus
on, it is picking something that will be of value and interest to you. Sometimes the topics are easy to discuss, and
sometimes they are harder. Today’s topic
falls into that second category, but I hope you find it worthwhile to learn a
little something about what is called the Blue Campaign.
I have mentioned before that
we have funding
partners in various sectors, including corporations, foundations, and
government agencies, including the Department of Agriculture, the Department of
Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, and
others. Recently, we have been engaged
in conversations with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to see how we
might collaborate in getting some of their important messages out to our
members. There are a couple of DHS
initiatives that we have agreed to help raise awareness about, and the Blue Campaign
is one of them.
In short, the purpose of the Blue Campaign is to combat human
trafficking, which is a crime and a human rights abuse involving commercial
sexual exploitation of a child or the use of force, coercion or fraud to compel
someone into labor servitude or commercial sexual exploitation. Thousands of
men, women, and children are trafficked in the United States every year. As educators, we need to be aware of the
signs of this terrible activity, and bring it to the attention of the
authorities immediately. Indicators of
human trafficking and multiple examples involving both children and adults are
described on the DHS website at the link included above. Please alert yourselves to this information,
so that you will recognize the indicators if you see them. The procedures for
reporting suspected incidents are also described clearly. And, dear friends and colleagues, please,
speak up. We are all the voices of those
who can’t speak for themselves. Thank
you.
If you would like further
information, the Daily Human Trafficking and Smuggling Report
is a 2-page summary of open-source information about current human trafficking
issues. The DHS Open Source Enterprise collects and distributes the report each
weekday. Sign
up for the report. You can also get
additional information on the Blue
Campaign on Facebook.
A future column will describe the DHS
campaign If
You See Something, Say Something.
Please stay tuned. Meanwhile,
take good care of yourselves and yours.
Bette