A room full of college students in Utah, United States sat in silence when asked if they knew the signs of human trafficking.
Some of them had read a little bit online, but the overwhelming response was that most didn't know the signs.
But human trafficking doesn't happen in the United States, right? So why do we need to know the signs?
Actually, according to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC), there have been nearly 40,000 reported victims of human trafficking in the United States since 2007.
This year alone there have already been 1,345 reported cases of human trafficking and there is an estimate of more than 27 million slaves worldwide, according to the NHTRC. This means that there are more slaves today than any other time in history.
The United States is known as being one of the countries with the most people being trafficked. Sex and corruption follow money; this makes the United States a big culprit.
However, the United States isn’t the only country with problems. Countries in Europe, Africa and Asia are high culprits as well.
Experts say one of the first ways people can help with this issue is by knowing and recognizing the signs of human trafficking.
Common signs include people who are not free to leave and go as they wish, work excessively long hours, owes a large debt and can’t pay it off or live in houses that have unusually high security.
Experts say that it’s better to call in a false alarm than to not call at all.
More information on recognizing the signs of human trafficking can be found at the National Human Trafficking Resource Center.