Yes, you’ve read that right. Instead of waking up to your usual morning makeup routine,  I invite you to embrace your fresh bare skin on July 21 for the National No Makeup Day USA. Actually, if you know the significance behind this special day, it’ll make you rethink your morning routine altogether.

What is the significance behind National No Makeup Day?

National No Make Up Day is not just for embracing your natural beauty and becoming confident in your skin. It’s a day to support organizations for the termination of human trafficking. Estimated by UNICEF, about 1.2 million children are trafficked every year and it’s the second largest source of illegal income worldwide, exceeded only by drugs trafficking.

In the United States, sexual exploitation experiences the highest form of human trafficking by 79%. The average age for a teen to enter the sex trade is 14 to 16 years old, and the cities with the highest trafficking population are Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. Though all genders and ages are affected by human trafficking, women make up the highest percentage and female children in second. Moreover, a high percentage of women affected by human trafficking can be both victims as well as perpetrators. Women often become the perpetrators as they it becomes a way they can avoid further targeting, creating an unsettling cycle.

In 2012, the United Nations implemented a trafficking protocol to enhance the protection and rehabilitation of human trafficking victims. The protocol has been enforced in many countries by providing training for service providers and criminal justice practitioners to ensure a safe and effective plan. The European Union and the UNODC have also launched the Global Action to Prevent and Address Trafficking in Persons and the Smuggling of Migrants (GLO.ACT). It’s a 4-year partnership to be carried out from 2015-2019, with the main objective to assist various countries in need to develop and implement comprehensive national counter-trafficking and counter-smuggling responses.

What can you do?

National No Make Up Day encourages citizens to make a small and simple gesture to reflect a large and complicated problem. Spreading awareness is the first step to making a greater change for the best interest of everyone. A simple action you can take is to embrace your blemishes, freckles, lines and wrinkles that tell so many stories.

On National No Make Up Day take a photo of your bare face and post on various social media outlets with the hashtags #NoMakeUpDayUSA and #NoMore.

Be part of a movement that matters to million lives. Share this now and show your support.

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