'Help us bring awareness': Harris County sets Human Trafficking Awareness Day for Jan. 11

The Harris County Commissioners Court voted unanimously on Jan. 4 to proclaim Tuesday, Jan. 11 as Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

"There are currently nearly 80,000 sex trafficking victims in Texas under the age of 18," Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said on her Twitter account. "Our goal is to make that number 0. Help us bring awareness by participating in #WearBlueDay." 

Human trafficking is defined as any time a person is forced, tricked or manipulated into providing labor or sexual service for someone else’s financial gain or pleasure. It also applies to when a child is involved in a commercial sex act. It is the fastest-growing criminal industry in the world with an estimated 40.3 million victims worldwide. 

Due to its location as part of the “Texas Triangle,” Houston is classified as a high-risk city for human trafficking because its close proximity to San Antonio and Dallas. Traffickers prefer large cities because of their easy access to interstate highways and high-volume populations.

January has been proclaimed National Human Trafficking Prevention Month by the Biden administration.

A White House release called sex trafficking, "an abhorrent abuse of power and a profoundly immoral crime that strikes at the safety, health and dignity of millions of people worldwide. During National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, we reaffirm our commitment to protect and empower survivors of all forms of human trafficking, to prosecute traffickers and to bring an end to human trafficking in the United States and around the world.”