When I was growing up, I don't think I knew what human trafficking was. I was too focused on the cute girl across the room, or on who was going to be homecoming king, or what I was going to do Friday night after the football game. I didn't consider the fact that bad things could be happening, I thought,"I live in America, bad things were happening elsewhere." 

The truth is, I've come to learn, human trafficking affects every country and is a threat to everyone. The wealthiest and poorest countries in the world have human trafficking and the terribly sad thing about this plague: no one is talking about it.

 - People are reported to be trafficked from 127 countries and exploited from 137 countries, impacting every continent and every type of economy. 

- 40 MILLION people are victims of modern slavery. This includes 4.8 million persons in forced sexual exploitation, 15 million persons in forced marriage, and 20.2 million persons in forced labor.

- Human Trafficking has been reported in ALL 50 states.  

We NEED change. And so, after hearing from Cassidy about an incredible organization called Dressember that is fighting human trafficking, I jumped onto the opportunity to participate. This organization asks people to wear a dress every day as a “…uniform, the flag of our movement. Dressember is an opportunity to reclaim and reappropriate the dress as a symbol of freedom and power; a flag for the inherent dignity of all people.”

And as a man, how am I supposed to help? 

It is also important for men to be involved (NOTE: understand that there are triggers for women and to be mindful of women’s past experiences in the conversations. We need to be involved, but not to further harm or trigger. Be mindful!). I've spent a lot of time in conversations with my women friends about the poor ways men treat them, or the ways that men communicate with them. Our world has a deep-rooted issue of men mistreating women and feeling they are entitled to something. As adults that are or will raise kids in our world, we need to start a movement of respect between women and men. We need to teach men that women don’t owe us anything. Behaviors like cat-calling, inappropriate touching, or sexual jokes and questions are NOT appropriate (FULL STOP. No excuses.) and we need to create a new norm. It's not just for women to consider these things and how to change them, it's for men. If you’re a man reading this, you have the opportunity to be an example to other men on how to treat women with respect and dignity. Dressember likes to say: #REALMENDon'tBuyWomen #MenBuyFlowersNotWomen If you're a guy, stand up when you see inappropriate behavior. Also, buy the women in your life flowers and then make sure your kids see you do it. 

Cassidy and I have had many conversations about the organization Dressember and the ways it is working to educate on these issues without turning people off. They've come up with the simple, yet effective action of wearing a dress or a tie every day for the month of December in order to "bring awareness and collect donations to end slavery and sex trafficking. For one month with the dress as our flag, we will carve a path to a better future for people everywhere." Watch videos below to see more of what Dressember is all about and then donate to my mom and I's campaign. Thank you!