January is National Slavery and Human-Trafficking Prevention Month.  It's estimated that there are 25 million victims of human-trafficking around the world and that human-trafficking is a $150-billion-per-year industry globally.  In the U.S., the National Human Trafficking Hotline has received almost 300,000 contacts, and around 52,000 cases of human trafficking have been reported since 2007 While human-trafficking — also known as modern-day slavery — is widely discussed, it's not widely understood. There's a common misconception that human trafficking and human smuggling are interchangeable terms. But in fact, they are two distinct criminal activities. Human trafficking is the exploitation of individuals through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of compelled labor or commercial sex. Human smuggling, on the other hand, is when a person voluntarily — at least initially...(Read Full Post)