When I started learning about human trafficking, there was a lot I had to "un-learn" first. For starters, I never imagined that it happened in America, at least not frequently. I also had no idea being trafficked by a loved one is the norm. Then came the reality that trafficking victims often aren't held in any physical bonds but rather psychological ones.

Books by Survivors.

Here are some questions you can ask to help identify a potential human trafficking situation!

Although we’ve discussed the topic of signs of human trafficking before, it never hurts to brush up on important information like this! So, lets review some signs that could be indicative of a human trafficking situation.

Did you know there are several types of human trafficking? The two main umbrellas of human trafficking are sex trafficking (described above), and labor trafficking.

One of the biggest misconceptions about human trafficking is how it occurs. Most survivors were actually trafficked by someone they knew, someone they thought they could trust.

Get hands-on with your anti-human trafficking journey with the Great Cincinnati Anti-Human Trafficking Volunteer Guide!

Today’s tip for the individual advocate: Host a fundraiser for a local agency!

This month's featured human trafficking abolitionist is Hope Johnston-Holm!

To fit within the legal definition of human trafficking, a situation must fit what is called the "Act, Means, Purpose" model. The Trafficking Survivors Act of 2000 defines human trafficking as "the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery." To understand the act, means, purpose model, lets break this definition down.

Today, we'd like to share a tool for anti-human trafficking advocates. This tool is SlaveryFootprint.org.

Christopher Bates was a lonely 16 year old, with a mother who worked long hours and struggled with mental health and a largely absent father. He was forced to grow up rather quickly, and as a gay teenage boy, he was often treated as an outcast. This all changed, however, when he began connecting with people online. He began to connect with people who liked him, cared about him, understood him. Or so he thought.

This month, we’re spotlighting the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center.

Purchase from organizations that do not use slave labor.

Consumers can be complicit in labor trafficking without even realizing. Sometimes even big, "name brand" corporations use trafficked labor. Because of this, it's important to do some research before pushing that "complete purchase" button online.

One of the most common misconceptions about human trafficking is that people are often trafficked by strangers. For 21-year-old Sara, a college student in Southwest Florida, it was her boyfriend.