Kate Bosworth was stunned by what she learned as she dug into the dark world of human trafficking.
The 35-year-old actress now works closely with CAST, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking. Her involvement came after she teamed up with her director husband, Michael Polish, on their drama Nona, which tells the story of a girl from Honduras who puts her faith in the wrong person while escaping to America to reunite with her mother.
“Traffickers prey on the most vulnerable in society,” says the actress, who is one of PEOPLE’s 25 Women Changing the World. “So ultimately, it’s very desperate human beings wanting a different life and taking a chance. Though the dangers of their chance are high, in their minds, it pales in comparison from where they came from.”