President Obama has declared today, January 11, as International Human Trafficking Awareness Day and the start of a month-long, nationwide human trafficking awareness campaign: National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. The campaign ends on February 12, 2010, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

The State Department estimates that 14,500-17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year for modern-day slavery. These numbers do not reflect the estimated 100,000 minors that are trafficked within U.S. borders into prostitution, or the uncounted individuals that never receive services or law enforcement intervention.

Two organizations doing effective work to combat Human Trafficking: