National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, 2025

Proclamation 10877 of December 30, 2024

National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, 2025

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Across the world, more than 27 million people,
including thousands here at home, are subjected to the
shameful, abhorrent abuse of human trafficking and
forced labor. Human trafficking targets the most
vulnerable in society and exploits them--denying their
human rights, freedom, and dignity. It is a stain on
our collective conscience and an affront to basic human
dignity. During National Human Trafficking Prevention
Month, we recommit to working to end human trafficking
in America and around the globe.

Any form of trafficking in people--from forced labor to
sex trafficking--must not be tolerated, in the United
States or anywhere around the world. That is why in
2021, I signed an updated National Action Plan (NAP) to
Combat Human Trafficking, detailing my Administration's
focus on prosecuting perpetrators, protecting
survivors, and partnering with governments and
organizations around the globe to end this scourge. The
NAP also recognizes that human traffickers target
people considered vulnerable in society--people from
racial and ethnic minorities, women and girls, LGBTQI+
individuals, and others from marginalized backgrounds.

Here at home, we have worked to crack down on human
trafficking and combat gender-based violence in
America. I remain proud that I first wrote the Violence
Against Women Act as a United States Senator and I have
worked to strengthen it ever since. That is why when I
reauthorized it in 2022, I expanded Tribal court
jurisdiction to prosecute non-Native sex traffickers.
Furthermore, through my American Rescue Plan, my
Administration delivered tens of thousands of housing
vouchers to ensure people fleeing human trafficking or
other violence have a safe home to go to. At the same
time, we have been committed to working with survivors
to support their path to recovery and healing, and
improving our approach to preventing, identifying, and
prosecuting these crimes. We have also taken steps to
prevent trafficking in the United States by
strengthening protections for vulnerable workers,
including issuing new rules to improve worker
protections and strengthen program integrity in
temporary visa programs and releasing an updated
version of the Department of State's Wilberforce ``Know
Your Rights'' pamphlet.

Around the world, we are also working with governments
and organizations to put a stop to human trafficking. I
signed the bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention
Act in 2021 and, from the moment the law took effect in
2022, Federal agencies have been working to ensure that
no American imports are produced using forced labor. I
signed the first-ever Presidential Memorandum to
prioritize strong labor standards in our Nation's
foreign policy as we work to build a world where our
economic system gives predatory traffickers no safe
harbor. In the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report, the
Department of State measured progress in 188 countries,
including the United States, by deploying powerful
technology tools to combat this scourge, and sanctioned
over 240 individuals and entities for serious human
rights abuses under the Global Magnitsky Sanctions
Program.

During National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, I
encourage Americans to learn the signs of human
trafficking and share the National Human

Trafficking Hotline (888-373-7888), where one can
report a tip or ask for help. Together, we can create a
world where every person is treated with dignity and
respect, lives free from fear, and can lead a life full
of freedom and liberty.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 2025
as National Human Trafficking Prevention Month. I call
upon businesses, civil society organizations,
communities of faith, families, and all Americans to
recognize the vital role we play in combating human
trafficking and to observe this month with appropriate
programs and activities aimed at preventing all forms
of human trafficking.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
thirtieth day of December, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
ninth.