*For all of my peer interviews I listed the interviewees initials and their age. E.K. (15) 1.

What do you think sex trafficking is? I think sex trafficking is a form of prostitution where the victim is forced to have sex with men. They are tricked into thinking that they are going to work as a maid or something, but are then forced into working at brothels. 2. How often do you hear about sex trafficking? I rarely hear about it. In fact, I just recently found out about what sex trafficking is. 3. Sex trafficking is where people are forced to work in the sex industry and are exploited by their traffickers to generate a profit. Sex trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. Is this what you thought it was? Do you think we hear enough about it? Yes, that is what i thought it was, but I do not think we hear enough about it, and therefore are more vulnerable to be taken by a trafficker since we don't know a lot about it. 4.(similar to number three) Do you feel that people should be made more aware of this issue? I strongly agree that we need to be more informed on this issue. So many people don't know about sex trafficking and are at a higher risk of being prostituted because of it. 5. Human trafficking generates $9.8 billion yearly in the US. Does this surprise you? Why or why not? What are some thoughts you have on this? Yes this does surprise me. I think that its so surprising because you don't really realize how serious this subject is, and how much money is generated off of it every year. 6. Approximately 100,000 children are forced to work in the sex industry every year in the US, and most them are around the age 13/14 when they start. What are your thoughts on this? I'm honestly disgusted by this. I could not imagine my siblings and I being forced into this. Its hard to believe how many children are taken to do these things. 7. The Polaris Project, a national organization that raises awareness and compiles data about human trafficking, ranks North Carolina as a top-10 state for human trafficking, which includes both labor and sex trafficking. (dailytarheel.com) What are your thoughts on this? How do you feel knowing that there are victims of human trafficking living so close to you? This honestly scares me to think that people around us are so dangerous. However, knowing this, I now know that I need to be more aware and alert about people in this area. 8. Do you think that this issue could ever be completely prevented around the world? Why or why not? In just the US? Why or why not? I'm not sure that we could eliminate sex trafficking entirely, but I do believe that if everyone works together, we could start eliminating it little by little.

9. Slavery still exists around the world today. What do you think you can do to stop it? What do you think others can do? I think that we could have groups go out and take down brothels, and arrest the traffickers. We could also donate to charities, form groups to help, and all work together to stop it. 10. Please share any other thoughts/opinions/comments you have regarding human trafficking, modern day slavery, etc. My thoughts on trafficking are that its a horrible thing and it shows how truly cruel the world can be. I don't think that people should just sit back and let this happen, I believe we should all put in an effort to stop it.

G.K. (16) 1. What do you think sex trafficking is? When people sell girls probably just for money and pleasure. 2. How often do you hear about sex trafficking? Never until now. 3. Sex trafficking is where people are forced to work in the sex industry and are exploited by their traffickers to generate a profit. Sex trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. Is this what you thought it was? Do you think we hear enough about it? No not really, I just thought it was like selling off people so maybe I was a little close? Yeah, I think it should be known of more than it is. 4.(similar to number three) Do you feel that people should be made more aware of this issue? Yes because it is not as prevalent on the news as it probably should be. 5. Human trafficking generates $9.8 billion yearly in the US. Does this surprise you? Why or why not? What are some thoughts you have on this? No not really, there are a lot of bad people out there that would like to buy sell and trade people. 6. Approximately 100,000 children are forced to work in the sex industry every year in the US, and most them are around the age 13/14 when they start. What are your thoughts on this? I think that 13 is too young for stuff like that. Not that its right in general but 13 is awful. 7. The Polaris Project, a national organization that raises awareness and compiles data about human trafficking, ranks North Carolina as a top-10 state for human trafficking, which includes both labor and sex trafficking. (dailytarheel.com) What are your thoughts on this? How do you feel knowing that there are victims of human trafficking living so close to you? I dont like that one bit. It is kind of scary thinking that we live so close to trafficked victims and we dont really know who they are.

8. Do you think that this issue could ever be completely prevented around the world? Why or why not? In just the US? Why or why not? No probably not, there are too many ways to get around the system like black markets and such. 9. Slavery still exists around the world today. What do you think you can do to stop it? What do you think others can do? I think we can make sure the world knows about it and try to stop it by creating more programs and organizations that fight it, etc. 10. Please share any other thoughts/opinions/comments you have regarding human trafficking, modern day slavery, etc. Its bad and traffickers have no right to do this to the victims.

C.A. (16) 1. What do you think sex trafficking is? The commercialization of sex. 2. How often do you hear about sex trafficking? Occasionally in the news. (But it isnt all that common) 3. Sex trafficking is where people are forced to work in the sex industry and are exploited by their traffickers to generate a profit. Sex trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. Is this what you thought it was? Do you think we hear enough about it? Yes. No, not really. 4.(similar to number three) Do you feel that people should be made more aware of this issue? Yes but we dont just need to hear more about it, we need to hear more in depth details and stories about it. 5. Human trafficking generates $9.8 billion yearly in the US. Does this surprise you? Why or why not? What are some thoughts you have on this? It isnt really surprising to me because I know a lot of money is made off of trafficking people. 6. Approximately 100,000 children are forced to work in the sex industry every year in the US, and most them are around the age 13/14 when they start. What are your thoughts on this? It is surprising that that many kids in just the US are forced into it. I didnt realize the number was that high.

7. The Polaris Project, a national organization that raises awareness and compiles data about human trafficking, ranks North Carolina as a top-10 state for human trafficking, which includes both labor and sex trafficking. (dailytarheel.com) What are your thoughts on this? How do you feel knowing that there are victims of human trafficking living so close to you? We dont hear about this enough in reference to where we live. Usually we hear about it in other countries but not here. The US Government should probably do more to emphasize that this happens in our country too. 8. Do you think that this issue could ever be completely prevented around the world? Why or why not? In just the US? Why or why not? No, but it can probably be reduced. 9. Slavery still exists around the world today. What do you think you can do to stop it? What do you think others can do? Everyone should probably learn more about it and get involved. 10. Please share any other thoughts/opinions/comments you have regarding human trafficking, modern day slavery, etc. I dont think enough people think of the US when they hear about human trafficking even though it is very real in our country.

R.F. (14) 1. What do you think sex trafficking is? Selling people for their bodies against their will. 2. How often do you hear about sex trafficking? Never really until now. 3. Sex trafficking is where people are forced to work in the sex industry and are exploited by their traffickers to generate a profit. Sex trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. Is this what you thought it was? Do you think we hear enough about it? Yes. No I dont think so. 4.(similar to number three) Do you feel that people should be made more aware of this issue? Yes they should be more aware because it isnt taught in school that much and isnt on the news that often. 5. Human trafficking generates $9.8 billion yearly in the US. Does this surprise you? Why or why not? What are some thoughts you have on this? Yes because that is a lot more money being made in the US than I wouldve guessed.

6. Approximately 100,000 children are forced to work in the sex industry every year in the US, and most them are around the age 13/14 when they start. What are your thoughts on this? I feel lucky that I am not one of them. They are robbed of their childhood and innocence and it would be very hard to recover from that kind of experience. 7. The Polaris Project, a national organization that raises awareness and compiles data about human trafficking, ranks North Carolina as a top-10 state for human trafficking, which includes both labor and sex trafficking. (dailytarheel.com) What are your thoughts on this? How do you feel knowing that there are victims of human trafficking living so close to you? I never really thought about this, but it is weird to think about it now. It is also scary because it could be me or anybody really. 8. Do you think that this issue could ever be completely prevented around the world? Why or why not? In just the US? Why or why not? No because people are too motivated by money and it would be hard to prevent in poorer countries. 9. Slavery still exists around the world today. What do you think you can do to stop it? What do you think others can do? Educate themselves and others about trafficking and learn to recognize the signs. 10. Please share any other thoughts/opinions/comments you have regarding human trafficking, modern day slavery, etc. People should be more aware because there is always a chance that it could happen to any one of us and we shouldnt ignore it.

R.L. (16) 1. What do you think sex trafficking is? I think that sex trafficking is when people are forced or sold to somebody who makes a profit for them. These people are exploited and taken advantage of. 2. How often do you hear about sex trafficking? I do not hear about sex trafficking very often. The only time I have actually learned about it is this year in English, since we are reading Sold. There are the occasional stories about it in the news, but I personally don't watch the news and I don't hear about it otherwise. 3. Sex trafficking is where people are forced to work in the sex industry and are exploited by their traffickers to generate a profit. Sex trafficking is a form of modern day slavery. Is this what you thought it was? Do you think we hear enough about it? Yes, this is what I thought it was. No, I think that more people need to become informed about this terrible issue.

4.(similar to number three) Do you feel that people should be made more aware of this issue? Yes, not nearly enough people are aware of what human and sex trafficking actually are, and I think if more people were informed, there would be more people to help put an end to it. 5. Human trafficking generates $9.8 billion yearly in the US. Does this surprise you? Why or why not? What are some thoughts you have on this? No, this does not surprise me, considering how large the sex trafficking industry is. I think that sex trafficking in general is terrible, and that what makes it even worse is that the victims aren't even the ones getting the money, there are others profiting greatly from them. 6. Approximately 100,000 children are forced to work in the sex industry every year in the US, and most them are around the age 13 when they start. What are your thoughts on this? I am not surprised by this, since children are much easier than adults to be taken advantage of. However, this is sickening that grown adults would take advantage of children who don't even know any better. 7. The Polaris Project, a national organization that raises awareness and compiles data about human trafficking, ranks North Carolina as a top-10 state for human trafficking, which includes both labor and sex trafficking. (dailytarheel.com) What are your thoughts on this? How do you feel knowing that there are victims of human trafficking living so close to you? I did not know that North Carolina ranked this high. This makes me feel worried and slightly less safe living here knowing that. It is very easy to know about human trafficking and assume that it just happens in very underdeveloped countries across the world, but there is a harsh reality that this is an issue everywhere, and there are victims all over the world. 8. Do you think that this issue could ever be completely prevented around the world? Why or why not? In just the US? Why or why not? I do not think that this issue can ever be completely extinguished in the world or the United States, but I think that it can get very close. There will always be some bad people in the world who will find a way around the rules, but I think that the numbers of people trafficked can be brought way down. 9. Slavery still exists around the world today. What do you think you can do to stop it? What do you think others can do? I think that if people are more informed about slavery, and where it happens, they will be more willing and motivated to help put an end to it. Yes, there is always donating to helping these victims, but I think that taking action against the people who have enslaved others is a much more direct approach and we would see more results that way. 10. Please share any other thoughts/opinions/comments you have regarding human trafficking, modern day slavery, etc. Overall I think that slavery and human trafficking are absolutely terrible. I think that people need to be more informed on these issues so that they can better help end them and be more knowledgeable while doing it.