University of St. Thomas and CHI St. Luke’s Health are working together to assist others in their efforts and struggles, to live a better life. As January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month these Houston Catholic faith-based ministries are co-sponsoring an educational seminar addressing human trafficking.

Fastest Growing Criminal Enterprise in the World

Human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world and the victims live among us. Every 30 seconds another person becomes a victim of human trafficking. There were approximately 8,700 calls to the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2018, more than 25 percent of which involved children and youth under the age of 18. Of the more than 300,000 victims of human trafficking in Texas, almost 79,000 are minors and youth victims of sex trafficking and nearly 234,000 adult victims of labor trafficking.

These modern-day slaves may grow our food, make our clothes, serve us in a restaurant, style our hair or nails, or be forced into prostitution. Help is available to support victims in our community, but unfortunately trafficked persons often go unnoticed. As people of faith, let us take a stand to change this reality.

As people of faith, let us take a stand to change this reality.

Attend the Educational Seminar at UST

To learn more about human trafficking response efforts, you are invited to attend an educational seminar − Houston, We Have a Problem: The Scourge of Human Trafficking, co-sponsored by CHI St. Luke’s Health and the University of St. Thomas.

Seminar Date: January 23, 2020

Time: 1:00 – 2:30pm

Location: University of St. Thomas – Jones Hall, 3910 Yoakum blvd.

Admission is free

Parking $5 in Moran Parking Center, Graustark & West Alabama, entrance on Graustark

Know the signs of human trafficking. Let’s keep our eyes and our hearts open to the needs of those around us and respond when we see something of concern. The choices of action are varied. The only choice that is clearly wrong is to do nothing.