IN OUR BACKYARD

Today is World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.

Prevention begins with awareness, but it doesn't end there. It grows through education, meaningful conversations, strong partnerships, and communities that choose to look out for one another.

Ending human trafficking takes all of us—parents, educators, businesses, law enforcement, volunteers, and neighbors—linking arms to build safer communities.

Today, we invite you to be part of the solution:
• Learn the signs.
• Start the conversation.
• Share this message.
• Help bring hope to someone who may need it.

Together, we can build safer communities and create more pathways to freedom.

🔗 Learn more at inourbackyard.org

Celebrate World Cup Collaboration that fights for the one!

https://da.santaclaracounty.gov/bay-area-task-force-rescues-53-human-trafficking-victims-during-world-cup-games

We are honored and grateful to work with folks who care, listen to survivors, and create pathways to freedom! Volunteers, community partners, dedicated survivors, and Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office - DA Jeff Rosen, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, thank you for all you do!

Awareness → Training → Intelligence → Actionable Tips → Investigative Response → Pathways to Freedom

From Awareness to Action

For 17 years, In Our Backyard has used the national attention surrounding the Super Bowl to wake up America to a critical truth: human trafficking is not only happening somewhere far away. It is happening in our own backyards.

What began as a grassroots awareness effort has grown into a proven major-event model focused on both children and adults.

Through In Our Backyard's process, volunteers, businesses, convenience stores, and community partners learn to recognize trafficking indicators, identify concerns responsibly, and understand how to move information through established reporting pathways.

Training leads to action, where qualified teams, technology partners, survivor-informed leadership, and investigative partners work together to develop actionable information to collaboratively help:

• Locate missing children at risk of exploitation at increased speeds
• Identify children and adults who may need support
• Identify suspected traffickers, abusers, and exploitation networks
• Strengthen information available to investigative teams
• Create recovery pathways designed to help, not harm

Since 2009, listening to survivors has strengthened every part of this work. Their insight helps guide how people are trained, how information is handled, and how recovery efforts protect dignity, safety, and choice.

Today, we are bringing this established model from the Super Bowl to the World Cup and other major events.

Turn awareness into action that disrupts trafficking and creates pathways to freedom.

Convenience stores are everyday places, but for many survivors of human trafficking, they can also be a safe moment and a pathway to freedom.

At In Our Backyard, we partner with over 50,000 convenience stores in all 50 states to provide training and place Freedom Stickers inside public restrooms. Survivors have shared that these restrooms are often the only place they’re briefly alone and able to reach out for help.

Freedom Stickers offer a discreet lifeline, a message of hope, and a way to get support fast.

One sticker. One safe moment. One step toward freedom.

Learn more or request Freedom Stickers at [email protected]

World Cup efforts to cheer for!
An anti-human trafficking initiative conducted before
and during the World Cup around New Jersey resulted
in 71 arrests and assistance to 97 suspected victims,
officials announced on July 20.

Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, the state Division
of Criminal Justice, and the New Jersey State Police
held a press conference on Monday to discuss the
operations that were conducted with 44 local, county,
state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

“Human trafficking is a serious and often hidden crime
that can have devastating and long-lasting impacts on
victims," said Jeanne Hengemuhle, acting
superintendent of the state police. "We recognize that
large-scale events can create opportunities for
traffickers and other criminal activity, which is why we
took a proactive and forward-thinking approach to
addressing this threat.”

Attorney General Jennifer Davenport speaking at May
31, 2026 press conference.

Working with Covenant House, Volunteers of America
and the state police's Operation RISE, detectives
identified potential victims and helped them with
services such as housing, mental health care and legal
support, along with connecting them to resources such
as treatment for substance abuse disorder, the Attorney
General's Office said in a release.

The 71 arrests included 40 alleged buyers of
commercial s*x during the investigations, which took
place between May and July. The criminal cases are
being handled by county prosecutors’ offices.

“These operations reflect a trauma-informed approach
to addressing the underlying causes of human
trafficking and prostitution,” said Theresa Hilton,
director of the Division of Criminal Justice. “Victims are
being offered support to address their vulnerabilities
and give them a way out. They’re being offered hope
and a path forward to safety, care and hopefully a
better life.”

In the news here ⬇📢
https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/new-jersey/
2026/07/20/world-cup-human-trafficking-initiative-nj-victims-arrests/90986904007/

Join the movement to provide law enforcement
partners, like the NJSP and the DCJ, with actionable
information to help someone in need. Email
[email protected].

Have you seen a Freedom Sticker?

For someone experiencing human trafficking, it could be a lifeline. You can help by placing Freedom Stickers in the restrooms of local businesses (with permission) and be part of bringing hope to someone who needs it most.

Learn more and get involved at inourbackyard.org

We’re entering the final stage of our Go, Grow, Give campaign: Give.

This July, we’re inviting our community to invest in freedom by helping sustain the work of prevention, outreach, and survivor-centered support.

When you become a Freedom Partner with a monthly gift of $25 or more, you help In Our Backyard continue showing up for victims, survivors, and those at risk of being trafficked.

Together, we can help create a world where all people are empowered to live in freedom.

Join us this July. Give for freedom.

As the United States marks 250 years of independence, we are reminded that freedom is both a gift and a responsibility.
For us, this season is a meaningful reminder of why we do this work: to help build a world where every person is safe, seen, and empowered to live in freedom.
However you are observing Independence Day, we hope it is filled with gratitude, reflection, connection, and care for the people around you.

Wishing you a safe and meaningful Independence Day. 💙

A huge thank you to the 20 new volunteers who signed up at our recent World Cup Convenience Store outreach event! 💙

Because of you, more Missing Children Booklets and Freedom Sticker materials are making their way into local convenience stores throughout the San Jose and Santa Clara area.

We are also deeply grateful for the convenience store owners, managers, and employees who welcomed these materials and chose to participate. Convenience stores are often trusted, everyday places in a neighborhood, and when they care about the safety of their community, they become part of a stronger safety net for vulnerable children and families.

Every booklet delivered, every store reached, and every conversation started helps keep missing kids safer, support faster identification, and create pathways to help when someone needs it most.

We are grateful for each volunteer and each participating store that chose to show up, link arms, and make a difference right where they are.

Together, we can turn major moments into lifesaving connections.

Human trafficking happens 365 days a year, right here, in our backyard. This article in the news is share worthy because it highlight’s one thing we at IOB and everyone can work toward:

COLLABORATION - with the purpose to find missing children faster.

Missing children are at a higher risk of s*x trafficking.

📌Together we can prevent trafficking.
📌Let’s care about missing children in our backyard.

Have time to volunteer or have your agency join the fight to find missing kids faster?

Get involved! [email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1469487415223040&set=a.614529717385485&type=3 *xtraffickingawareness

A missing and endangered child from Arizona was found at the homeless encampment known as "The Jungle" in Olympia, Washington after investigators received information that the child may have been a victim of s*x trafficking. U.S. marshals said. https://bit.ly/4vLjMBS

Today in San Francisco and the South Bay, awareness is being raised as thousands of international and domestic visitors arrive for the World Cup match.

Major events create powerful opportunities for prevention, outreach, and pathways to freedom when communities collaborate and link arms.
We are proud to partner with Safety4theBay.org to train convenience stores and equip them with Missing Children Booklets and prevention materials that help protect vulnerable children and families.

Today, we will be training at our second World Cup event at Sacred Heart Church in Saratoga.

Together, we can turn major moments into lifesaving connections. 💙

We are proud to partner with Safety4theBay.org to train convenience store employees and equip them with Missing Children Booklets and prevention materials to help protect vulnerable children and families.

https://www.instagram.com/safety4thebay/

https://www.instagram.com/southbayendtrafficking/

https://www.facebook.com/SBCEHT/