NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that human trafficking is a scourge that affects thousands of adults and children across the United States. Furthermore, the United States is a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor, debt bondage, document servitude, and sex trafficking. According to the national human trafficking hotline, the number of human trafficking cases reported in Washington doubled between 2012 and 2017. Additionally, the national human trafficking hotline has fielded over three thousand calls from Washington since 2007 and identified over one thousand five hundred potential victims of human trafficking and in a recent study by the human trafficking institute, Washington ranked thirteenth in the nation for active cases in its federal courts. The United States department of justice child exploitation and obscenity section reports twelve is the average age of entry into pornography and prostitution in the United States and that child victims are often runaways and homeless youth. The legislature recognizes that the attorney general maintains a web site intended to serve as a hub for victims of human trafficking, watraffickinghelp.org. The legislature further recognizes that designating January as human trafficking awareness month has the goal of increasing awareness and understanding for how to identify signs of human trafficking and act as a deterrent. The Washington state legislature intends to observe January as human trafficking awareness month and encourages the people of Washington to be vigilant for signs of human trafficking and be aware of the state and federal resources related to human trafficking.