January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month and although it would be easier to ignore it, human trafficking is very real and close to home.

Your television is flooded with reports of sex trafficking rings on private islands, but the grim reality is there’s human trafficking happening down your street.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, human trafficking is defined as the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or sex act. But being aware of the statistics and horrors is useless unless serious action occurs.

Labor trafficking is the number one type of trafficking internationally, but sex trafficking is first in the United States. In the last five years, 1,096 human-trafficking offenses were charged in Pennsylvania — and those are just the ones that were caught. Pennsylvania’s interstate system makes it easier to traffic victims, especially with our state bordering New York and New Jersey.

There are more than 900 illicit massage parlors in Pennsylvania that have prostitution, which mostly have Asian women that are being forced or coerced to become modern-day sex slaves. The parlors also use the internet to advertise their victims, increasing their criminal business and clientele.

We’ve taken steps to address human trafficking in our state. In 2014, Pennsylvania enacted Act 105 — Pennsylvania’s Anti-Human Trafficking Law, which defined human trafficking to include sex trafficking. It also states that exploited minors do not need to self-identify as victims, nor does the law require a showing of involuntary servitude as stated in the statute for adult victims.

Just last month, legislation authored by my colleague Sen. Cris Dush, R-Brookville, was signed into law as Act 39 of 2023 to ensure sexually exploited children have access to services by ensuring that third-party control is never a consideration for access to victim services by amending Titles 18 and 23 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes.

But there’s still so much more to do. As a state senator of Pennsylvania, I remain committed to combatting human trafficking cases in our state through awareness and action.

On Thursday, I am hosting a Senate Majority Policy Committee hearing on human trafficking for my colleagues and I to raise awareness and discuss policy to assist victims of this heinous crime. The hearing will begin at 2 p.m. in the 11th floor conference room of the Union Trust Building, located at 501 Grant St. in downtown Pittsburgh.

Please join me in continuing this important conversation because lives depend on it.

(Sen. Dan Laughlin, a Republican from Erie County, represents the 49th Senate District.)