Introducing one of Dressember's new grant partners: Truckers against Trafficking
With more than 40 million people around the world trapped in human trafficking situations, we need as many vigilant leaders as possible to recognize and prevent trafficking when they see it.
Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) is equipping those leaders who are already on the road, creating a “mobile army of transportation professionals” that are trained in recognizing and reporting human trafficking.
Truckers Against Trafficking is made up of several different programs, including Busing on the Lookout (BOTL) which trains professionals in both the commercial and school busing industries on how to recognize human trafficking.
“Our goal is to empower key industry professionals with information that allows them to know what to do [in a trafficking situation],” says Annie Sovcik, the Program Director for BOTL.
As one of our 15 grant partner organizations for Dressember 2019/2020, TAT is helping us to fund a holistic approach to ending trafficking. We are so excited for this collaborative effort that will make it possible for Dressember to reach even more individuals in trafficking situations.
Human trafficking situations often lead back to buses and bus stations in a variety of ways. In the commercial bus industry, traffickers may use buses to transport the people they are exploiting, but they also are able to recruit young, vulnerable people at bus stations. “Traffickers prey upon vulnerability,” says Sovcik, “Youth, migration status, people who are in life transitions: those are all things that make someone more appealing to them.”
“Our goal is to empower key industry professionals with information that allows them to know what to do [in a trafficking situation].”
On the other hand, when a trafficked person escapes his or her situation, he or she may use public or mass transportation to do so. “Members of the bus industry could come into contact with victims of trafficking at the recruitment stage, at the exploitation stage, and at the exit stage,” according to Sovcik.
In the school busing industry, transportation professionals can be especially helpful when trained to recognize students who show signs of physical or mental trauma or even students who are equipped with expensive objects that their trafficker may have gifted them. “School bus drivers are on these routes, Monday through Friday, most months out of the year, and they develop a recognition of the normal, day-to-day situations which makes them keenly aware of the abnormal,” says Sovcik. “Their role is partially preventative and partially reactive to kids who may already be in a trafficking situation and are still going to school. They can observe changes in patterns, moods, and physical appearance. They’re positioned to see if new or different people are picking up a student.”
TAT has trained over 770,000 transportation professionals who have helped in the recovery of over 1,000 individuals from trafficking situations, proving that when drivers are trained to recognize the signs of human trafficking, they can help put an end to a trafficking situation.
Red flags can sometimes be visible signs such as unkempt, unclean passengers who seem confused and afraid, but they can also be more subtle signs like people or cars that repeatedly return to the terminal despite never boarding a bus.
You don’t have to be a transportation professional to play your part either. If you’re a frequent traveler or use commercial transit for your daily commute, you can always be “on the lookout” for these red flags.
“There are red flags that passengers on buses may end up observing or that may come up in conversation, and we would advise they [] call the National Human Trafficking Hotline. We’re not encouraging them to intervene physically or try to rescue victims themselves,” says Sovcik.
If you’re a parent or teacher, you can make sure your school trains its bus drivers to recognize the signs of child trafficking and that it has a protocol for such situations. You can also check with the public transit agencies in your area to make sure that their drivers are trained as well.
BOTL is also developing a volunteer app for people who want to spread information about TAT’s training programs by visiting truck stops or bus terminals. “There are so many mom-and-pop operated truck stops, that for us to be able to get to all of them is logistically really challenging. That’s a role where people working within their communities can always be of assistance,” says Sovcik.
As TAT points out, “human traffickers are counting on people not paying attention and not knowing the signs.” Law enforcement officials aren’t the only people who can make an impact in the fight against human trafficking . When everyday people like bus industry professionals know the signs and report suspected trafficking situations, they are helping to save someone’s life and cutting down the multi-billion dollar trafficking industry bit by bit. BOTL’s message aligns with our mission at Dressember: everyone’s talents are needed in the fight to end trafficking. “The more people are aware, the more we can close these loopholes to traffickers and provide a lifeline to victims in need,” says Sovcik. When you learn to recognize the signs and use your own talents to advocate on behalf of trafficked persons everywhere, you too can help dismantle the trafficking industry.
About the Author
Victoria Shircliffe is a superfan of the television show "Once Upon a Time," and when she’s not working at the public library, she’s travelling across the country to fan conventions! She recently graduated from Bellarmine University with a degree in English and Marketing Communication and hopes to pursue a Masters in English. She is passionate about feminism, fairy tales, and fighting human trafficking.