Under Armour Executive and Mission 14 Founder, Nick Cienski, is attempting to break a world record, all in the name of raising awareness for the growing problem of human trafficking. Cienski is currently attempting to climb the world’s 6 tallest mountains in 1 year to bring awareness to his cause. Starting with Mt. Everest and ending with Mt. Manaslu, Cienski will climb close to 70,000 vertical feet by the end of his journey. In addition to raising awareness for human trafficking, Cienski is asking donors to donate a penny per foot he climbs.

Cienski founded Mission 14, a nonprofit dedicated to help end international human trafficking, after a trip to Nicaragua where he and his wife Sandi witnessed the trafficking of children first hand. Since then, Cienski and his wife have made it their mission to help those who are stuck in human trafficking. For those who want to follow Nick Cienski’s journey, you can follow his movements and heart rate here. “Above all, Cienski wants people to educate themselves on the issue. ‘People don’t believe this happens in their community’ Cienski said.”

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Last Thursday, Thailand’s National Assembly passed several amendments to the current anti-human trafficking laws that will make the penalties for engaging in such crimes more severe. The new laws allow prosecutors to pursue life prison sentences for individuals convicted of human trafficking. They also “open the way for more robust factory and industry inspections, especially in the fishing and seafood industry.” These amendments come days after an Associated Press report revealed that Thai seafood caught by men working in slavery-like conditions is often mixed in with other seafood at certain suppliers’ processing plants, making the slave-caught fish virtually untraceable.

Over the past few years, Thailand has been internationally criticizedfor their rampant human trafficking problem and overall inability to address the root causes. In 2014, Thailand received the lowest rating in the United States’ annual Trafficking in Person’s report, Tier 3. Since then, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has proclaimed that human trafficking is one of the key problems the country is working to address. Although these new laws seem to be a step in the right direction, not all Thai citizens are convinced that they will have a significant impact.

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Thanks to evidence collected by the International Justice Mission (IJM), close to 40 people were rescued from slavery like conditions in a brick factory near Bangalore, India on February 18th by the local Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU). A few of the laborers were interviewed following their rescue and it was clear by their accounts that they had been held there as forced labor slaves. The individuals rescued were forced to work up to 20 hours a day and were paid just over a quarter a day, while children as young as 8 were also forced to work. When asked about the enslaved laborers, IJM worker Neenu Thomas said “Their hands were bad and it seemed like an allergic reaction to the clay. They never got medical treatment for it and when they asked the owners, they were refused.” IJM presented the initial evidence of slave labor to the local AHTU on February 10th which led to the rescue operation a week later.

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As of March 2, 2015, federal contractors now have to adhere to a new set of prohibitions and regulations related to human trafficking. The prohibitions and regulations stem from a final ruling issued on January 29, 2015, that aims to strengthen the Federal Acquisition Regulation’s (FAR) current provisions to prevent human trafficking. Government contractors and their employees are now explicitly prohibited from engaging in forms of human trafficking, using forced labor, destroying or denying access to identity or immigration documents, charging recruiting fees and numerous other actions associated with human trafficking and forced labor.The final ruling also now requires that government contractors implement an anti-human trafficking compliance plan and procedures to prevent human trafficking violations for any overseas contract valued at over $500,000. These new laws place stringent regulations on contractors and will hopefully deter federal contractors, their employees and subcontractors from engaging in human trafficking activities.

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U.S. Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, went on Meet the Press this Sunday to discuss his bipartisan proposal that would focus on eliminating modern slavery around the world. “There are 27 million people today…around the world, that are enslaved, in rug-making facilities, brick kilns, all kinds of sex trafficking…These are crimes of opportunity, average business people [worldwide] are making money by enslaving people.” His proposal intends to authorize a 501(c)(3) non-profit grant-making foundation in the District of Columbia to be known as “The End Modern Slavery Initiative Foundation.” This foundation will fund programs and projects outside of the United States that will set clear defined goals and outcomes that can be empirically measured and achieve a 50 percent reduction of modern slavery in targeted populations. In addition, these programs and projects must contribute to freeing and sustaining the recovery of victims, preventing the enslavement of individuals, and enforcing laws to punish individuals and corporations that participate in modern slavery. Senator Corker’s bill is expected to hit the floor this week and would build off private-public partnerships to help combat this ongoing crisis.

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Linda Rizk, Thomas A. Rizk, and Rizk Ventures, LLC announced today the launch of Counter Human Trafficking Compliance Solutions, LLC (CHTCS), a global compliance and advisory company that provides corporations the training, assessment, research, and supply chain transparency required to combat human trafficking, forced labor, and child labor within their global supply chains.

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The United States House of Representatives passed three measures to combat human trafficking: The Human Trafficking Prioritization Act (H.R. 514), The International Megan’s Law to Prevent Demand for Child Sex Trafficking (H.R. 515), and The Human Trafficking Prevention Act (H.R. 357). The chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs said while these three bills mark great progress in the fight against human trafficking, there is still so much more the government can do to eradicate all human trafficking, forced labor, and child labor around the world.

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The United Kingdom introduced a new modern slavery bill in June 2014 and it is expected to take effect in May 2015. It aims to bring together many legislative measures to help combat human trafficking. These measures include strengthening the power law enforcement has to control both land and sea borders in order to prevent human traffickers and victims from entering and leaving the country and creates a new Anti-slavery commissioner position in order to make efforts to combat human trafficking more coordinated. It is recommended that business put human trafficking policies in place to proactively protect themselves from the repercussions of the modern slavery bill.

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In his first mass of 2015, Pope Francis advised people of all cultures and religions to help end human trafficking. One of the ways he urged people to do so is through avoiding low-cost goods that may be products of forced labor. He stated that it is a God-given right for everyone to be free.

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President Obama released a proclamation declaring January 2015 National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month. This month will culminate in National Freedom Day on February first. President Obama called on all Americans to recognize their role in helping to eradicate modern slavery by buying products free of forced labor. He called for business and non-profit leaders to ensure their supply chains do not employ the use of slavery. President Obama also promised that the United States Government would continue to try to fight human trafficking on the legislative level.

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