Ashton Kutcher wants the haters to know: Ending child trafficking is his job

Ashton Kutcher wants you to know what his day job is. And no, it's not acting.

The one-time film star appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday to talk about his efforts to combat human trafficking and child exploitation, as well his other "day job" -- being the father of two children.

Kutcher was there as a representative of Thorn, a company he cofounded that creates anti-trafficking software.

"I'm here today to defend the right to pursue happiness," he told the committee. "But the right to pursue happiness for so many is stripped away. It's raped, it's abused, it's taken by force, fraud or coercion ... It's sold for the momentary happiness of another."

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Part of Kutcher's anti-trafficking work, he explained, includes talking to victims in the U.S. and around the world, and tracking down exploitive material shared on the dark web to be handed over to authorities.

"I've been on FBI raids where I've seen things that no other person should ever see," an emotional Kutcher said.

"I've seen video content of a child that's the same age as mine being raped by an American man that was a sex tourist in Cambodia. And this child was so conditioned by her environment that she thought she was engaging in play."

Kutcher highlighted Thorn's anti-trafficking software Spotlight, which is used by law enforcement agencies to prioritise their caseload.

In six months, Kutcher said Spotlight has helped to identify 6,000 trafficking victims, 2,000 of which were minors. He also claimed that investigation times are down by 60 percent across the 900 law enforcement agencies that are using the software.

"That's my day job. And I'm sticking to it," Kutcher said.