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By DONNAMY STEELE / Special to the Reporter

ALABASTER – According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, there were 82 human trafficking cases and 286 contacts reported in Alabama in 2019.

Virginia Miller and the Junior League of Birmingham’s Anti-Human Trafficking Committee’s mission is to bring awareness to this ongoing issue by educating the public on human trafficking.

Miller met with Alabaster Mayor Scott Brakefield on Monday, Jan. 4 to accept the 2021 Human Trafficking Awareness Proclamation.

Human Trafficking Awareness Month was established in January 2011 in observance of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, according to the proclamation.

The United States is listed as the number one consumer of commercial sex worldwide with an estimated number of 600,000-800,000 individuals being trafficked across international borders each year.

Brakefield said the first step to eliminating human trafficking is to educate the community.

“Now, therefore, I, Scott Brakefield, the mayor of the city of Alabaster, Alabama, do hereby proclaim January 2021 as ‘Human Trafficking Awareness Month’ and ask all residents to join in raising the visibility of this crime whose victims are all too often invisible,” Brakefield said.

Brakefield said he is proud of Miller and the Junior League of Birmingham’s Anti-Human Trafficking Committee for taking a stand against human trafficking and supplying the community with more information about the issue.

“Human trafficking continues to grow and is prevalent, and I appreciate Virginia and those with the Alabama Human Trafficking Awareness Taskforce,” he said. “I just appreciate them bringing more awareness to it and educating our public about the dangers of human trafficking.”