The good ole US of A hasn’t gotten a lot right lately, but this past week has proven that the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave still has some moxy left.

Human trafficking, as many of you may know, is modern day slavery. It’s a brutal, global crime that’s in every country and in millions of cites around the globe. It’s a crime that — if there’s any chance of ending it — has to be combated on all sides: legislatively, socially, and economically. Now for the good news: Both California and Florida have passed bills to combat trafficking in different arenas.

On September 28, California’s Governor Jerry Brown signed bill SB 1165 into law, which means that sex trafficking and sexual abuse prevention education will be taught to California’s nearly three million high school students. This is a huge deal because one of the only ways we are going to end human trafficking is if we educate the younger generation. If we teach America’s children what sexual abuse and sex trafficking look like, then they’re not only safer, but smarter. If they grow up knowing how to protect themselves against sexual abuse and trafficking, then they can educate others and radically lessen the numbers of American children hurt and injured by these evils every day.

Moving from the Golden State to the Sunshine State, Florida signed into law HB 989 on October 1. This bill is great because it has made the trafficking of minors a first-degree felony. It has also made branding victims of trafficking a third-degree felony. Additionally, this bill has removed any statue of limitations for the prosecution of trafficking cases, ensuring that justice can be served no matter how long ago the incident occurred.

So, obviously, these are just two out of fifty states, but the fact of the matter is that there’s a precedent being set. Both of these states have enormous populations (California has over 35,000,000 people, for crying out loud), which means that millions of people are being told — in no uncertain terms — that slavery is not okay. If other states see this precedent and model their laws after it, then before you know it, America’s estimated 300,000,000 citizens are being told the same thing. And that, my friends, is what will ultimately make the difference in the global fight against human trafficking.