How the Transportation Industry Can Help End Human Trafficking
It’s no exaggeration to say that our society depends on the work of truckers. Truckers ensure that groceries, medicines, and other vital goods get where they need to be on time. But beyond the essential role that truckers play in commerce, healthcare, and energy, truckers are now taking on another vital role: helping in the fight to end human trafficking.
What is Human Trafficking?
Human trafficking is the crime of people being bought and sold for sex or forced labor. Some victims are forced into being trafficked through violence, while others are tricked by traffickers who lure them with false promises of job opportunities or romantic interest. An estimated 50 million people have become victims.
When they first hear about this type of modern-day slavery, some people mistakenly assume that such things could only be happening in impoverished and lawless countries. However, the reality is that thousands of people are trafficked for sex or labor in the U.S. and Canada.
TAT and the Role of the Transportation Industry
Victims of human trafficking are often transported long distances to potential buyers. That means that truck drivers and other transportation industry workers have the chance to play a part in stopping this crime. Because of their numbers and the fact they’re constantly traveling to a wide variety of places, transportation industry professionals are uniquely well suited to be the eyes and ears of the fight against this modern-day slavery.
The organization TAT (Truckers Against Trafficking) has been working to help mobilize the transportation industry in the fight against human trafficking. In addition to raising awareness of human trafficking generally, TAT helps companies in the transportation industry teach their employees how to actively disrupt human trafficking rather than remaining passive bystanders.
TAT creates training resources such as videos, posters, and wallet cards uniquely tailored to workers in different facets of the transportation industry, such as over-the-road truckers, truck stop and dealership employees, and motorcoach drivers. These training materials explain how to spot the signs of human trafficking and how they can report it simply by making an anonymous phone call to 911 or the human trafficking hotline if they suspect someone is being victimized.
Working with industry partners and law enforcement agencies, TAT has trained over 2.2 million people since the organization’s beginnings in 2009.
Join TAT and Rubber-Inc in the fight Against Human Trafficking
Since 2013, July 30 has been recognized as World Day Against Trafficking in Persons to raise awareness of human trafficking and promote anti-trafficking efforts. That means July is a great time to consider educating your employees about human trafficking and the role they can play in combatting it.
Rubber-Inc is proud to partner with TAT in the effort to end the horrific crime of human trafficking on American roadways. Using TAT resources, we offer anti-human trafficking training to all employees in our organization.
You can learn more about human trafficking, learn more about TAT’s work, find free training resources, and support their efforts at their website. Thanks for reading, and thanks for being part of this fight.