As January is coming to a close, and we go into February, it’s important to shed light on a conversation that needs to be continued. January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month. However, it’s important that we remember those who are in slavery every month of the year.

The Facts: What is human trafficking, and how big of a problem is it?

The United States Department of Homeland Security defines human trafficking as: “modern-day slavery and involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act."

According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, 7,572 cases of human trafficking were reported in the United States in 2016.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, one third of victims are children. This includes sex trafficking, forced labor, forced marriages, and even the production of pornography.

According to the International Labor Organization, there are 20.9 million victims of human trafficking across the globe with the average age of victims being 12. ILO also estimates that, each year, human traffickers generate $150 billion worldwide.

How are victims trafficked?

Victims can fall into trafficking through a number of ways. Often young people, most often women, become sexually or romantically involved with a trafficker. After establishing a relationship, the victims are often forced into sex work or labor slavery, using violence and threats.

Traffickers most often target people who they consider emotionally vulnerable, financially distraught, or mentally unstable. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 20% of child runaways in the United States were likely trafficked.

Effects on the individual

The effects that human trafficking has on individuals vary and are severe, both physically and mentally. Many victims have been psychologically and emotionally abused to the point of not realizing that they are victims of human trafficking. Often, victims of trafficking develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of years of rape and physical and mental abuse.

Being forced into sex with a wide range of people puts human trafficking victims at a higher risk for contracting diseases such as HIV and AIDS. Victims are likely to experience high levels of depression and anxiety, even after rescue from their traffickers.

These effects can be life-long if not met with the proper care.

What’s being done to abolish modern-day slavery? Is there anything we can do?

Recently, actor Ashton Kutcher appeared on the Today Show to share about an iPhone application he developed in 2008. The app, called Thorn, utilizes technology to fight human trafficking online.

In the interview Kutcher said, “We’re building digital tools to fight human trafficking. Basically, the purchase and commerce for human trafficking is happening online, just like everything else now, and so we’re building digital tools to fight back against it.”

Thorn partners with technology innovators from websites like Facebook and Twitter to provide governments and non-profits with tools to find and stop online human trafficking. For example, one tool developed by Thorn helps law enforcement quickly identify and sort through child pornography sites in order to bring them down and find victims.

Other organizations, like the A21 Campaign, use a rescue and restore approach in order to bring victims out of trafficking and help them rebuild their lives. Besides bringing the victims to restoration, A21 also seeks to bring traffickers to justice. They advocate globally in order to reform laws globally regarding human trafficking, slavery, and prosecution of traffickers.

In the United States, former President Barack Obama signed the first federal bill directly addressing human trafficking and its victims. The bill, signed in May of 2015, guarantees government funded resources for human trafficking victims. The bill also states that funding will come from fines levied on traffickers.

The fight for freedom is not over.

Advancements in the fight against human trafficking are developed every day through new technologies and government legislation. However, there is still much work to be done.

As Human Trafficking Awareness Month comes to an end, it’s important that we remember the victims of trafficking for the other eleven months of the year as well.

Take some time to educate yourself on your state’s current laws in regards to trafficking, donate money and time to one of the organizations mentioned above, or even take the time to educate others on forced prostitution and labor. What would happen if all of us decided to make an effort to abolish modern-day slavery?

Let’s end human trafficking together.