The global sex industry generates over $30 billion a year, which is why Kristin Keen is often on the side of the highway in Jacksonville, Fla. She routinely walks a section called Philips Highway to meet and talk with prostitutes working on the street. These women wonder why she cares, especially in a place where most transactions are strictly business.

But Keen is not discouraged. Instead, her experiences have pushed her to start a business to give these women a different kind of job.

She is the founder of Rethreaded, a nonprofit organization in Jacksonville, with the goal of fighting "business with business." Keen told her story at North Carolina's Davidson College last week during a human trafficking awareness night in partnership with the campus chapter of the International Justice Mission. more >>

Organizers of an upcoming conference that will feature 100 human rights groups say an important purpose for the gathering is to further the success of Invisible Children, Inc.'s Kony 2012 campaign of bringing people together for a common cause.

Regent University School of Law's Center for Global Justice, Human Rights and the Rule of Law will host its first "Media and the Law: Seeking Justice for the Least of These" conference at the school's campus in Virginia Beach, Va., on March 29-31.

"The wildly successful Kony 2012 social media campaign demonstrated that artists, human rights advocates and legal professionals can work together to confront issues surrounding human trafficking, the legal protection of children, and international religious freedom," organizers of the event said in a statement from the school's law center. more >>

Getting involved in solving social ills should be an essential part of the Christian community, not an optional extra. That was the resounding message heard by 4,000 people at the Justice Conference this past weekend.

The second annual Justice Conference, a two–day event to promote dialogue about issues such as human trafficking, slavery, poverty, HIV/AIDS and human rights was held at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Ore. Speakers including an all-star lineup of leaders fighting for social causes were joined by representatives of 100 organizations to challenge attendees to integrate action into their faith, event organizers said.

Don Golden, who works at World Relief, which was a co-sponsor of the Justice Conference, told The Christian Post the event was about more than just bringing about awareness to today's problems. more >>

In an attempt to crack down on fraudulent adoptions in Ethiopia, the U.S. Embassy apparently became overzealous. This past fall, adoptive parents of Ethiopian children believe that officials there had badgered witnesses and falsified information in the case files used to obtain visas for their adopted children.

Concerns about adoptions in Ethiopia increased in the spring of 2010 after several pieces of investigative journalism, including a Dutch documentary and CBS News report, found cases of child trafficking.

Ethiopian parents were being misled into giving up their children. They were promised money, or led to believe that their child was going to the United States to receive an education and would return to them, according to these reports. more >>

International Justice Mission, a human rights agency fighting for victims of slavery, has launched a petition encouraging Americans to sign their names in an effort to get President Barack Obama to help end modern-day slavery, which affects millions of men, women and children globally. 

The "Stand for Freedom" campaign has acquired 7,641of the 27,000 necessary signatures – with one name said to represent 1,000 people who need freedom. According to the petition, there are 27 million people worldwide who are enslaved today.

IJM outlines five points that will help the U.S. government become a leader in the fight for this basic human right. "Americans want to end slavery once and for all," the petition reads. "The U.S. government can play a powerful role in fighting this crime by supporting robust law enforcement and victim relief at home and abroad." more >>

For the average 12- to 14-year-old American girl, adolescence is a time of growing and learning – a carefree existence – however, for thousands of others, it marks their entry into a living hell of pornography and prostitution.

“Modern-day slaves,” as victims of human trafficking are called, are often forced into domestic servitude, farming labor, factory work or the commercial sex industry. Jan. 11, National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, is dedicated to spreading knowledge about this growing problem in the U.S.

Nearly 293,000 of America’s youth risk becoming victims of the sex trade, the U.S. Department of Justice reported. Research also shows that many of the sexually exploited were runaway or “thrown away” teens who saw prostitution as their only opportunity to survive the streets. However, ministries across the country are working to show these “lost” young adults that “love with no attachments” does exist. more >>