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Hello friends and supporters,
We've updated the format of our newsletter to make it easier to read and to enable access right from your email box. We're excited to let you know what's been happening with Truckers Against Trafficking in 2011. Thank you for your continued support! We couldn't do it without each and every one of you.
Truckers Against Trafficking
Chapter 61
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TAT presents at Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition (BSCC) Conference
Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) joined presenters from across the United States at the first annual Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition (BSCC) Conference May 11-13, in San Diego, California. The BSCC brought together members of the transportation industry, government officials, law enforcement agency representatives and members of the anti-trafficking movement to provide an extensive overview of the trafficking situation in the United States, Central and South America.
Kendis Paris, TAT national director, discovered that besides TAT and the U. S. government's Blue Campaign, there's not a lot of anti-trafficking work going on in the area of transportation, even though this area is crucial to traffickers' success. This was a great opportunity to educate and work with the transportation industry as a whole.
Paris discussed TAT's mission, methods, needs and best practices that could be used in other segments of the transportation industry. She also made important connections with law enforcement, foundation and non-government organizations (NGO).
Paris said, "It was definitely an honor to be asked to present at the BSCC, and TAT thanks Marisa Ugarte, BSCC executive director, not only for the invitation, but for her tireless work on behalf of trafficking victims."
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| TAT at GATS in August
TAT will once again be an exhibitor at the Great American Trucking Show (GATS) in Dallas, TX Aug. 25-27, 2011. During the event, TAT will screen our training DVD as well as hold a mini press conference. We looking forward to meeting many more members of the trucking industry and spreading the word about how truckers can make a real difference in the fight against human trafficking here in the U.S. We hope to see you there!
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TAT materials to be used by TravelCenters of America (TA)
TravelCenters of America (TA) will be using TAT training materials to educate its workforce and help raise awareness about TAT's key issues with its community of customers.
"We're extremely encouraged by TA's participation to help get our message across," said Kendis Paris, TAT national director. "Their decision to use TAT materials will disseminate the message to thousands of members of the trucking industry and better equip them to understand and help fight human trafficking, which is why TAT exists."
Commenting on TA's decision to participate in this educational role, Barry Richards, executive vice president of TravelCenters of America, stated, "Truckers are among our country's most caring, upstanding individuals, and trucking-related initiatives like TAT work to address issues important to the trucking community. TA is proud to be part of that community and to play a small part in furthering TAT's mission among its many trucking community supporters."
The TAT initiative has a four-fold purpose: to educate members of the trucking/travel plaza industry about human trafficking and the role they can play in fighting it, equip them with tools, empower them with steps to take and mobilize them to take a stand against one of the world's most lucrative and destructive crimes. The initiative includes a website, www.truckersagainsttrafficking.com, where the TAT video can be viewed; webinars; Human Trafficking 101 classes; wallet cards with questions to ask, red flags to look for and the National Hotline number to call if trafficking is suspected; posters; and publicity and promotion.
Human trafficking, a term for modern-day slavery, is a $32-billion worldwide industry with more than 27 million people enslaved in the world today. In the United States, it has been reported in all 50 states, and the number of victims is estimated in the hundreds of thousands.
For more information, please contact chapter61@gmail.com or Kendis Paris at 720-202-1037.
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NHTRC Truckers Against Trafficking Report: December 7, 2007 - May 31, 2011
Take away: Truckers Against Trafficking is successfully reaching a population that provides valuable intelligence about sex trafficking, frequently of minors. Their work is generating frequent hotline calls about a network that would go unreported without trucker engagement. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) has received over 125 calls from truck drivers. Of these, more than 60% resulted from awareness and outreach efforts conducted by Truckers Against Trafficking.
Truckers Against Trafficking has conducted targeted awareness efforts about human trafficking and the NHTRC hotline through radio programs and ads, newsletters and articles, their website, and other mediums.
Approximately 42% of hotline calls from truckers are tips about potential human trafficking; in comparison, 15% of all hotline calls are classified as tips. In another 33% of calls, truckers called requested general information about human trafficking; many of these truckers later call to report trafficking.
Of the cases reported by truckers referencing trafficking, approximately 62% involved potential minors in sex trafficking situations. Pimp control sex trafficking was the most common type of trafficking reported by truckers, and was reported in 58% of the calls referencing trafficking.
Vignette: While driving through Flagstaff, Arizona late at night, a trucker pulled over at a truck stop near the highway. The driver observed a man who appeared to be in his late thirties with a young girl who appeared to be around 13 years old. At first the driver didn't think anything was wrong, but after observing the man and the young girl approach several other truckers, the driver became increasingly suspicious. The driver spoke with one of the other truckers, who told him that the man with the young girl was offering to sell her for commercial sex to the various truckers they had approached. The driver decided to contact the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC), since he had heard about the human trafficking hotline on a radio spot by Truckers Against Trafficking. After receiving the driver's report, the NHTRC reported the information to a federal law enforcement taskforce that works specifically on cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children.
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What is TAT?
Truckers Against Trafficking is an initiative of Chapter 61 to educate and raise awareness among members of the trucking industry about the issue of domestic sex trafficking. To a great extent, domestic sex trafficking occurs along our nation's highways and at its truck stops, where traffickers can sell their victims to a transient population they believe are less likely to attempt rescue. In response, Chapter 61 Ministries is asking the 3.5 million domestic truckers, as well as other members of the trucking industry, to become aware of this issue, and, when they suspect a human trafficking case, to call the national hotline and report it.
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