A Campaign to Eliminate Modern Day Slavery

Dear Mayor ______,

Today, we are writing asking you to join us in deterring Human Trafficking by issuing a township proclamation designating January 11thof each yearas Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Listed below are the communities we know have already issued a proclamation – thank you for your ongoing support. If you issued a proclamation and are not on our list, please update us immediately so we can update our records.

The NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking (Coalition) was conceived in late 2011 after the realization that while many groups were fighting human trafficking, there was not a cohesive, collective outcry against modern-day slavery. In three short years, we’ve grown into a diverse group of over 100 community and faith-based organizations, schools, non-profits, government agencies, and direct service providers.

Coalition members worked tirelessly to help pass the 2013 Human Trafficking Prevention, Protection and Treatment Act making NJ’s law one of the most comprehensive anti-trafficking statutes in the country and our voice will not be silenced. We’ve been involved in over 30 anti-trafficking initiatives member eblasts reach hundreds of NJ residents. In 2015, we will continueworking with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Task Force and the newly formed Commission on Human Trafficking to show that our community members are proactive and believe in protecting all residents and visitors to our state.

If you have not already done so already, please help us fight human trafficking by publicly issuing a local proclamation designating January 11thof each yearas Human Trafficking Awareness Day (templates attached). We also ask you to support awareness programs in your local municipality ensuring that everyone knows it is morally and legally unacceptable to buy people and that victims are dehumanized. According to the law, human trafficking occurs when someone knowingly holds, entices, harbors, transports, provides or obtains by any means another person to engage in sexual activity or to provide labor or services. The Human Trafficking Prevention, Protection and Treatment Act expands the definition of human trafficking to include actions involving abduction, fraud, deceit or other deception and abuses of power as a means of accomplishing human trafficking.

We would like to keep you updated on our upcoming training programs and initiatives. Please let us know if there is someone in your office that will be your point person. If you have any questions, please contact the Coalition at ______or by telephone ______.

Respectfully,

[insert your name and organization]

on behalf of the NJ Coalition Against Human Trafficking

We are aware that these towns/counties have issued proclamations as of 11/18/2014

Basking Ridge
Beachwood
Bergenfield
Berkeley Heights
Bernards Township
Boonton Township
Branchburg
Cedar Grove
Chatham
Chester Borough
Chester Township
Dover
East Hanover
Elizabeth
Englewood
Essex County Board of
Chosen Freeholders
Fair Haven
Fair Lawn
Fanwood
Frankford Township / Franklin
Freehold Borough
Freehold Township
Frenchtown
Glen Ridge
Gloucester Township
Hackettstown
Hamburg
Hanover
Harvey Cedars
Hasbrouck Heights
Hoboken
Hudson County Board of
Chosen Freeholders
Irvington
Jersey City
Jefferson Township
Kearny
Kinnelon
Lavallette
Little Ferry / Livingston
Long Branch
Manaplan Township
Maplewood
Marlboro Township
Mine Hill
Montclair
Montville
Morris Plains
Morris Township
Morristown
New Providence
North Haledon
Nutley
Paramus
Parsippany-Troy Hills
Pequannock Township
Randolph
Ridgewood
Rockaway Borough / Rockaway Township
Roselle
Roxbury
Secaucus
South Orange
Stafford
Summit
Teaneck
Tenafly
Tinton Falls
Union
Union County Board of
Chosen Freeholders
Warren Township
Wayne Township
West Caldwell
West Orange
Westfield
Westwood
Willingboro

TOWNS PENDING

(If you don't see the name of your city/township, call/text/tweet/email/write/facebook your mayor or city official.)

Atlantic City
TEMPLATE FOR LOCAL PROCLAMATIONS TO

DESIGNATE JANUARY11 AS HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS DAY

WHEREAS, Human Trafficking isa borderless crimeagainst individuals that violates the most basic human rights and deprives victims of every shred of personal freedom; and

WHEREAS, Human Trafficking occurs when a person is recruited, harbored, obtained, or exported through force, fraud, or coercion for the purposes of sexual or labor exploitation, involuntary servitude, and other types of mental and physical enslavement; and

WHEREAS, human traffickers target impoverished and marginalizedchildren, women and men, isolating them from society and supportive networks and exploiting them for personal and monetary gain; and

WHEREAS, Human Trafficking is modern-day slavery, a crime that is in direct opposition to the fundamental principles of liberty and human rights upon which our nation was founded and a violation of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which was ratified in 1865; and

WHEREAS, the underground nature of Human Trafficking makes data collection difficult. However, the United Nations’ International Labour Organization has estimated that more people are now harmed by Human Trafficking worldwide than have been at any other point in human history. Approximately 80% of the victims are women and girls, and 50% are younger than age 18.

WHEREAS we recognize that New Jersey is a prime location for Human Trafficking because it is a major national and international transportation corridor and a culturally diverse state; and

WHEREAS,many victims trafficked into the U.S. do not speak or understand English and are unable to communicate to seek rescue. Under New Jersey and U.S. law, any person under 18 involved in the commercial sex industry is considered a Human Trafficking victim; and victims include U.S. citizens and documented immigrants; and

WHEREAS, although the federal government and the State of New Jersey have enacted laws to prosecute human traffickers and protect the survivors of Human Trafficking, traffickers use techniques to keep their victims enslaved that severely limit self-reporting and that require broad public awareness of Human Trafficking issues for enforcement and prevention to occur; and

WHEREAS, the township of Atlantic Citystands committed to protecting human rights and individual freedom by supporting the goals and ideals of the National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness on January 11 of each year; and

WHEREAS, the township commends the work of the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking ( for its statewide efforts to end Human Trafficking through education, advocacy, and assistance to survivors and to increase coordination and visibility of New Jersey’s commitment to end human trafficking.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ______, do hereby proclaim January 11 of each year as: Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the township of ______, to raise awareness about the signs and consequences of Human Trafficking, to promote opposition to human trafficking in all of its forms, and to encourage support for the survivorsof human trafficking throughout New Jersey and across the world to put an end to this criminal activity and restore freedom and dignity to survivors.

Dated: