Imagine a young woman walking into your office. She is trembling as you see tears fall from her fair face, hitting the carpet beneath you. The makeup on her face is smudging as it comes off revealing bruises from her face to her neck. Her hair looks to have been dyed black and cut abruptly with scissors. Her dark pink mini skirt with a fishnet top could make you think she was a prostitute. When she finally sits down, she can finally stop shaking. She slowly looks up,  glances around the room, then her icy blue eyes finally meet yours. The once warm room seemed to go cold as you quickly shuffle through papers on your desk.

There she is, Maci Green, a fifteen year old girl who went missing after a shopping trip with friends. Tears stream down your face, hitting her case file as you look at her now, another young beautiful girl falling victim to sex trafficking. After a few moments you hear yelling and crying in the hallway. Her parents start to run in but pause at the door.. Falling to her knees Mrs. Green scans her daughter over as they embrace in a hug, a family reunited once again. Maci Green may never be the same bubbly person she was but you will help her regain her voice. You will see to it that those who stole her smile are punished. Maybe this time you will be able to bring peace to the victims.

January was month dedication to bring awareness about human trafficking. It seemed fitting that the start of a new year and a fresh start could bring hope totThousands of young women and men who are kidnapped and forced into sex trafficking. They are repeatedly beaten, drugged and raped. Trafficking has no age limit and no remorse. From babies to young women and men, once you are in their hands there is little chance of escape.

The target market is mostly teenage girls, some are runaways, born in or kidnapped. They are quickly sold on online websites to jons from all over the country. The buyer’s ages range from college students to retired individuals. These young girls are bought through the internet and at private auctions. Once sold, they are forced to engage in whatever their owner determines they should do.

This industry has a profit of over a billion dollars a year on the backs of victims and putting an end to it is a daunting challenge.  Only together can people raise awareness, protesting and bring hope that one day modern slavery will not be a crime future generations will have to worry about. January gave voices back to the survivors; they need to be heard. They need to know that ye, we can come together and put an end to this.

Modern Slavery has been going on for to long. The fact that sexual slavery continues in local communities decades later is disgusting and saddening. How profit is made everyday has not changed much from years ago.. As a people we need to put a complete stop to slavery. This is not  topic to dismiss lightly.

Not all heroes wear capes and anyone can be one. Let our actions have a domino effect on the pretrator rather than the victims. Let them feel the wrath for their crimes. The domino will not fall on the victims because we will be there to help them stand tall and flourish. As one falls another stands tall. Even though January is the dedicated month to bring awareness to human trafficking we can all take steps every day to protest and save those trapped. Together united a cycle can be stopped.