As the City of Philadelphia approaches several major events next year, officials are taking action to confront the human trafficking crisis that they said often remains out of public view.
Philadelphia City Councilmember Dr. Nina Ahmad hosted a press conference to announce the $500,000 investment she secured in the FY 2026 budget to launch Philadelphia’s first-ever Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Campaign.
According to officials, the 2026 campaign will create the long-term safety infrastructure that Philadelphia has never had, including coordinated response, unified public awareness, survivor-informed training and guidance, aligned data and shared insights, and durable cross-sector collaboration.
Officials hope the new initiative will help protect Philadelphians now and for years to come.
“I want to be very clear, this is not a headline, this is not about a moment. This is about building an infrastructure to protect people every single day,” said Dr. Ahmad during the press conference. “As we prepare for our nation’s 250th Anniversary, the FIFA World Cup, and major MLB events, we know that large gatherings, too often, bring increased opportunity for traffickers.”
Dr. Ahmad added, “Safety can not wait until 2026. Safety for every Philadelphian and everyone is our responsibility today. This campaign will create what Philadelphia needs.”
Human trafficking, officials said, is a “hidden but urgent crisis in Philadelphia.” Evidence shows it often rises during major sporting events and during periods of heavy visitor traffic.
“We are so deeply committed to this work that the DAO has already submitted a budget request to launch the DAO Human Trafficking Task Force to support this effort, so that we can assign ADA’s, victim advocates, Philadelphia county detectives, specifically to specialize in this work at this important time.” Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner shared during the press conference. “There is no question that we face a difficult challenge in the year 2026 in trying to protect people.”
According to data from the Polaris Project, nationally, 60 percent of trafficking victims knew their trafficker, and 26 percent were trafficked by a family member.
“Often, individuals don’t even know they’re in that situation, or they don’t see anything wrong, because they are so in the thick of addiction, so there’s this constant exploitation as it relates to their partner,” said Executive Director and President of Women Against Abuse, Joanna Otero Cruz.
City Council’s $500,000 investment is the foundation of a “permanent, survivor-informed approach to preventing trafficking and exploitation,” officials said.
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