Around the globe, an estimated 27 million people are exploited for labor, services, and commercial sex.  Through force, fraud, and coercion, they are made to toil in fields and factories, in restaurants and residences.  Traffickers prey on some of the world’s most marginalized and vulnerable individuals – profiting from their plight.

Virginia ranks 15th in the United States for reported human trafficking cases.

The average age at which people enter sex trafficking is 12–14 years old.

26% of trafficked people are minors.

The most common types of trafficking in Virginia are sex trafficking, domestic work, and traveling sales crews.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline provides statistics by state for all methods of reports since their creation in 2007.

The total signals/contacts received for West Virginia were 807, Maryland 5,985, North Carolina 8,875, Kentucky 3,796, Pennsylvania 7,764 and Virginia 6,398. These are the total contacts since the hotline’s inception in 2007, according to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

Of those 6,398 signals/contacts received in Virginia, the hotline identified 1,689 cases of human trafficking and 3,573 victims were identified since 2007.

The Blue Lightning Initiative (BLI) is an element of the DHS Blue Campaign, led by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and DHS Component Agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The BLI trains aviation personnel to identify potential traffickers and human trafficking victims, and to report their suspicions to federal law enforcement. To date, more than 350,000 personnel in the aviation industry have been trained through the BLI, and actionable tips continue to be reported to law enforcement.

https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/blue-lightning-initiative

RIC partners with the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Transportation in combatting human trafficking through the BLI.

• A 30-minute training video is offered through RIC’s Interactive Employee Training online platform.
• A one-hour facilitator led training session is offered routinely as well as on-demand, that includes the BLI human trafficking training module.
• RIC posts human trafficking awareness and prevention materials in conspicuous areas like breakrooms and the Badging Office.
• RIC distributes human trafficking reporting lanyard cards and key tags.

Planned at RIC for 2025:

• Training initiative to expand BLI training to current and new RIC employees, with a goal of reaching 500 persons trained.
• Expanding awareness and training outreach to local car rentals, and hotels.
• Posting the human trafficking hotline number in restrooms (federal legislation – Human Trafficking Prevention Act of 2022, HR 7181)