If the bill passes, the state will join 11 others with "safe harbor" protections, according to the Polaris Project, a Washington, D.

WSJ: Ky., other states try to protect sex-trade victims

The Polaris Project also recently created a texting feature, in part to help people who are victims of sex trafficking or slavery.

CNN: In praise of 'slacktivism'

"Across the country there's been this awakening that children shouldn't be prosecuted for prostitution-related offenses, " said James Dold, senior policy counsel at the Polaris Project.

WSJ: Ky., other states try to protect sex-trade victims

The Polaris Project, the group that runs an anti-trafficking hot line, says its call volume was up 65% in January, to 2, 850 calls, in part because that's when the END IT movement launched at the Christian youth conference.

CNN: In praise of 'slacktivism'

The scale of human trafficking in the US is hard to gauge, but the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline, operated by Polaris Project since December 2007, has received more than 57, 000 calls from every state in the union.

BBC: Twelve arrested in US raid on Latin sex-trafficking ring

Megan Fowler, a spokesman for the Polaris Project, said calls were up this week, too, although it's harder to tease out the source, because the group on Tuesday announced a partnership with Google to create the Global Human Trafficking Hotline Network.

CNN: In praise of 'slacktivism'