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Kate De La O

Instructor McCann

English 1301.127

00 September 2021

(4 spaces after your last name)

Edited by Jorge Diaz

The Problem Hidden In The Shadows

“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness,” are natural rights that every man, woman,

and child are entitled too (to)and guaranteed under our Constitution. Yet in the United States, the

deprivation of these rights often goes unnoticed. There are various forms of human trafficking

“forced labor, sex trafficking, and domestic servitude” (DHS). No matter the class, race, or

gender of a person, everyone is at risk of becoming a victim to human trafficking. The

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Blue Campaign is an organization that uses their

Facebook account to educate, provide recourses(resources), and create a safe space for citizens to

take part in combating human trafficking.

(The)Department of Homeland Security founded the Blue Campaign in 2010, to raise

awareness to an often-overlooked crime (Farris). Working with national government, law enforcement,

global, and Non-Government Organizations, the Blue Campaign is a large organization dedicated to

educating the public and industries about human trafficking and how to identify key

indicators(key factors for what?), along with guidance on how to approach the situation (DHS).

During the creation of the Blue Campaigns logo(,)many (try to avoid the word "many")elements

were taken into consideration. The color blue (For instance, Blue) is the color internationally
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associated with human trafficking awareness, signifying “unity, strength, and innovation” (DHS).

Symbolic illustrations of the heart, a blindfold, and the thin blue line all hold significant

meaning, representing global anti-human trafficking services (DHS).

Living in a first world country many Americans tend to assume that nothing detrimental

will happen to them or their loved ones, becoming oblivious to the crisis of human trafficking.

Numerous amounts of people assume that because they live in a higher class, or well-developed

communities, they are not at risk of encountering human trafficking. This is where Facebook and

other social media comes in as a crucial tool used to expand the DHS Blue Campaign’s message

of raising awareness and putting an end to human trafficking. Posts that contain valuable

information are now able to reach thousands of people and millions more thanks to the easy

capability of sharing on social media. To the untrained eye human trafficking can be nearly

invisible ( I loved how you used the word "untrained" here), but with the help of survivors,

families, and law enforcement this is beginning to change. As a counteractant DHS Blue

Campaign uses all available federal resources, along with presentations provided in communities

and schools. In 2013 the state of Texas mandated that all school personal, teachers, admin, and

staff, take part in trainings designed to recognize and report child abuse, including trafficking

(Texas Gateway), and are now working with organizations such as the Blue Campaign. Videos

posted by DHS Blue Campaign on Facebook go into detail explaining what human trafficking is

and the difference between human trafficking and human smuggling, human trafficking being the

exploitation of a person and human smuggling being the illegal transportation of a person (DHS).

In addition, they describe the different types of human trafficking: sex trafficking, forced labor,
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and domestic servitude, all of which can occur anywhere from private communities to public

areas (DHS).

Using all of Facebook’s platform features to their advantage, the DHS Blue Campaign

takes into consideration what and how to present their content. Since the Blue Campaign covers

a sensitive topic, rather than a personal Facebook account( I don't see a point in adding those

words), they stay away from using bright colors and funny context in their posts. For example, in

the post “Child Domestic Servitude Signs” (DHS) they use monotone colors when showing a

child victim to domestic servitude. They also take their viewers into consideration by exhibiting

a nice home, in a nice neighborhood(maybe change this to "a well planted setting", try using a

those words.), making the video relatable to its viewers, and emphasizing how human trafficking

can occur anywhere at any time. ("Not only that, but these videos also implement facts, guidance

and resources for their audience")There are interceptions throughout the video stating facts,

guidance, and recourses. To draw attention to this text, there is a change in sound to melancholy

music, engaging the audience’s attention. There is also an ombre ( the word ombre, is one of the

best ways the change in colors could be explain),the fading of one color to another, of light blue

and dark blue in the background,with the light blue in the center of the slide and the darker blue

encompassing, thus drawing attention to the center where the text is located.

The DHS Blue Campaign community on Facebook has grown to 140,000 members.

People from different states, cultures, and races are coming together to take part in learning and

informing others about human trafficking and effective measures to take when encountering

suspected trafficking, possibly saving a life. Clever things such as Indicator Cards, First

Responder Cards, and Key Tag Cards are available to the public. Indicator Cards are small cards
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that can fit within a wallet and containing indicators of human trafficking and how to

appropriately make a report. First Responder Cards contains (contain) contact information for

various types of first responders, and too fits in a wallet. Key Tag Cards is a key chain that

inconspicuously contains important contact information for reporting human trafficking. All of

which is used in combating this violation against humanity along with posters and pamphlets that

are provided and can be printed.

(by empowering the hopeless, helping calm the scared, giving a sense of direction, nice to have a

helping hand when dealing with the unknown, good to have some with experience to help. Ex.

ask questions of people that have experienced and try to learn from either what they did wrong

and what they did right.

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Works Cited

Department of Homeland Security. “Blue Campaign.” U.S Department of Homeland Security,

www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/about-blue-campaign.

Department of Homeland Security Blue Campaign. Tools That Teach: What Is Human

Trafficking? 16 May 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=35uM5VMrZas.

Farris, Lauren. “Invisible, until Now: Blue Campaign.” Dressember Foundation,

www.dressember.org/blog/invisible-until-now-the-blue-campaign.

Texas Education Agency. “Prevention and Awareness: Human Trafficking of School-Aged

Children | Texas Gateway.” Www.texasgateway.org,

www.texasgateway.org/resource/prevention-and-awareness-human-trafficking-school-age

d-children.