When most people think of human trafficking, they picture villains snatching young girls away from their families and selling them to the highest bidder. They also think about people kept in chains in a basement somewhere, or something like the "docks" scene from Les Miserables. If you've been keeping up with our blog this far, however, you'll know that human trafficking often looks nothing like that. Instead, it typically looks like empty promises and coercion, done by someone that was deemed trustworthy. You see, those who are most at risk of being trafficked are people who need some kind of help. When it comes to the stories of labor trafficking survivors, you'll see over and over again that someone promised them security and gave them pain instead. When it comes to sex trafficking, you'll see reports of parents selling their children or people who at one time seemed trustworthy, coercing survivors into something they don't want to do.

There are several reasons why understanding the true nature of human trafficking is so crucial. For one, how can one help to end something if they can't see it? If we only think of human trafficking as a tragedy that strikes in the dead of night, perpetrated by some unknown villains, we'll never be able to recognize it if it happens right in front of us. Secondly, we can go even further than recognizing signs if we are knowledgeable about trafficking; we can prevent it from happening in the first place. We can do this by taking care of each other and taking care of those who are most vulnerable around us. Ending human trafficking is about preserving human dignity, showing love, and supporting one another. If we do that in our everyday lives, we can stop trafficking before it even begins.