Wednesday, January 11th is a day dedicated to human trafficking awareness. Some might believe dedicating a day to the awareness of this issue is unnecessary because unless you live under a rock, you know this crime is occurring. But that's untrue. While we understand this crime exists, we don't always understand the extent because it isn't happening right in front of us.

It's important to understand that human trafficking is not the same thing as human smuggling. Human trafficking involves selling underaged people (usually girls) to the highest bidder for sex. With smuggling, the people are almost always compliant and are never forced into sex slavery or sold.

who are identified and rescued. Out of every 100 offenders of this crime, only 8.5 are convicted and serve time. This number shows the depths of sex slavery and the very little victory that officials are having in destroying this industry.

The thing is, when we visualize a crime such as human trafficking, we often envision it happening in the depths of third world countries or when a careless backpacker wanders into the wrong part of Uganda. But this image we have of human trafficking is merely a false sense of security we've created.

Truthfully, human trafficking is much higher in countries such as Uganda, Pakistan, Nepal, Brazil and so on. This fact does not mean that within the United States trafficking is nonexistent. The 3 largest American trafficking locations all fall in California (L.A, San Francisco, and San Diego). Within the U.S, the victims are almost always under 15 years old and more than likely have been sexually abused as children.

When the reality of sex trafficking is so close to home, it prompts more motivation for individuals to want to help. The End Trafficking Project is an amazing way to learn how to be aware of the signs of trafficking if you ever come in contact with a possible victim. If you're suspicious of something, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline and report it.

Understanding that this is, in fact, a world wide issue could help save more than that 1% of slaves.