According to DHS, approximately 18,000 persons are trafficked into the United States from over 50 countries every year. More than 300,000 children are trafficked within the United States annually. DHS noted that traffickers use force, fraud or coercion to lure their victims and force them into labor or commercial sexual exploitation.
The department notes traffickers look for people who are susceptible for a variety of reasons, including psychological or emotional vulnerability, economic hardship, lack of a social safety net, natural disasters or political instability. The trauma caused by the traffickers can be so great that many may not identify themselves as victims or ask for help, even in highly public settings.
A growing movement is underway to fight human trafficking, and it's one many businesses can take an active role in fighting that has little impact on their operations but an extreme impact in saving victims and bringing exploiters to justice.
Convenience stores have become the local "corner" community stores that were once a feature of many residential neighborhoods. This provides an excellent opportunity to support the fight against human trafficking, which the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) has embraced.
CAST, a program of the nonprofit IN OUR BACKYARD (IOB), partners with c-store retailers, petroleum marketers, state associations and industry suppliers in more than 40 states. The program has been featured in the NACS Community Toolkit. Among many materials, they have developed stickers that can be posted in restrooms with hotline information for victims and training for store employees and managers.
Williams noted that human trafficking victims are using convenience stores daily, sometimes multiple times per day, to get their essentials because they move around more on a day-to-day basis. If they are involved in prostitution, they have multiple customers and they'll often go to a convenience store in between to use the restroom to clean up.
Travel plazas and truckstops have a more transient customer base than the typical convenience store, but they provide other opportunities to play an intervention role in human trafficking. It is not uncommon for human traffickers to travel the highways with their victims. Prostitution can also be attracted to these locations.
NATSO works closely with the Department of Transportation, Department of Homeland Security, Truckers Against Trafficking, Polaris Project, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and other local organizations to gain insight into best practices on how to educate its members.
NATSO launched an online learning tool designed to help teach truckstop owners, operators and employees how to respond if they suspect human trafficking. The course is available free of charge to any member of the truckstop and travel plaza community. It also provides the DHS Blue Campaign's training and awareness materials—including posters, handouts and other materials.
Truck drivers are another key vector in the fight against human trafficking, as they also represent a community that can keep its eyes open for potential signs that the practice is occurring.
Human traffickers involved in prostitution also see truck drivers as potential business opportunities. Truck drivers are morally no different than the general population, but route drivers are not immune to common temptations and over the road trucking can be a lonely job combined with often aggressive temptations in common rest areas and lots.
To get involved, owners and employees are not expected to take on law enforcement responsibilities. The posting of materials like stickers that allow a victim to start the process of leaving servitude is an easy step. Beyond that, observing and passing along tips to authorities is important.
To get involved, you can contact any of the organizations listed in this article to see how your operations fit in with their programs or the programs they support. More immediately, anyone who suspects human trafficking should call local authorities or the toll-free 24-hour hotline for the National Human Trafficking Resource Center: 888-3737-888, or text BeFree (233733). You can also leave a tip on their website at https://humantraffickinghotline.org/report-trafficking.