The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), Office on Women’s Health (OWH) is seeking innovative ways to address human trafficking prevention among women and girls in the United States through the  HHS Innovation Challenge to Prevent Human Trafficking Among Women and Girls. The goal of this national competition is to identify and award existing programs that demonstrate effectiveness in preventing human trafficking and/or improving health outcomes related to human trafficking among women and girls, sustainable program practices, and the ability of the program to be expanded and/or replicated. The program must demonstrate evidence-based interventions and approaches to preventing the occurrence and/or improving health outcomes related to human trafficking on women and girls. The program should include attention to disparities, including racial/ethnic, sex, sexual orientation, disabilities, or social determinants of health that contribute to an increased risk of being trafficked. The program will be shared with the general public, including through informational webinars, websites, social media, and listservs (challenge.gov).

The competition has two phases. Phase 1 will award existing, innovative programs that have demonstrated outcomes in successfully preventing human trafficking and/or improving health outcomes related to human trafficking among women and girls. Phase 2 will award programs that have successfully expanded and/or replicated to increase the impact of their program in preventing human trafficking and/or improving health outcomes related to human trafficking on women and girls.

Submission period: Phase 1 open until 02/01/24 10:59 PM CST

Total cash prizes: $1,800,000