WHEREAS, the United Nations defines human traffickingas the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of persons by improper means (such as force, abduction, fraud, or coercion) for an improper purpose including forced labor or sexual exploitation; and

WHEREAS, in 2017, the nationwide, FBI-led anti-trafficking Operation Cross Country (OCC) raid reported the average age of sex trafficking victims in the U.S. was 15 years old; and

WHEREAS, with more than 1.1 million students, New York City is the largest K-12 public school system in the United States with many of its students vulnerable to falling prey to human trafficking; and

WHEREAS, the U.S. State Department recommends that educators receive training in order to be made aware of how human traffickers target school-aged children; and

WHEREAS, such training would ensure that New York City adheres to best educational practices, alongside the states of California, Virginia, and North Carolina, all of which have passed laws that mandate training in trafficking prevention; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the UFT will partner with Got to Stop LLC, a social impact organization that uses the arts, advocacy, and education to raise awareness about injustice using evidence-based practices and engagement strategies to empower communities and find innovative solutions for social change and transformation; and be it further

RESOLVED, that the UFT will provide its members with learning opportunities designed to help members learn the indicators of human trafficking in order to provide appropriate intervention as well as understand the ways in which, as consumers, they can avoid unknowingly supporting industries that rely on forced and trafficked labor.