Read an April 4, 2006, Beliefnet story from a Katrina survivor who writes that “the only thing that keeps me sane is knowing that God has a purpose for me.”

Allison Calhoun-Brown is associate professor of political science at Georgia State University. She specializes in religion and politics and African-American politics.

Read “Trafficking in Persons Report 2012,” the annual report by the State Department on global human trafficking.

The CNN Freedom Project is behind a one-hour documentary broadcast June 26, 2011, “Nepal’s Stolen Children,” reported and hosted by actress Demi Moore. Moore and her husband, actor Ashton Kutcher, sponsor a foundation to combat child sex slavery.

Read this page, created by the National Conference of State Legislatures, of state laws prohibiting human trafficking and their differences.

On March 3, 2011, the Appignani Bioethics Center, a project of the American Humanist Association, hosted a panel discussion, “Human Trafficking, Exploitation and Abuse of Sex Workers: Suggested Remedies.” It took place during the 55th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York.

The Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition holds annual gatherings focused on building community awareness and mobilization against human trafficking.

Polly Trout is the author of Eastern Seeds, Western Soil: Three Gurus in America. She lives in Seattle.

Peter Gottschalk is a professor of religion at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. He studies the dynamic of the cultural interplay between Hinduism, Islam, and the West.