Truckers Against Human Trafficking 2

Caroline: [00:00:00] In this episode, we’re going to be discussing human trafficking, exploitation and abuse, which may be distressing to some viewers. If your discretion is advised, if you or someone you know needs help, please contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline. See more information about that in the description.

Heather: it’s a dark crime. And it can be a very heavy thing to think about. And what we try to focus on is the fact that the trucking industry, professional drivers, have the opportunity every day to be heroes and potentially save a life.

Caroline: Welcome to this Week in Trucking. My name is Caroline, and today we have a very special guest. Heather Fry, the director of industry training at Truckers Against Trafficking or TAT. They started with the belief that every truck driver can be a crucial ally in the fight against human trafficking. Thank you so much for being here today.

Caroline: Heather,

Heather: Thank you for having me, Caroline.

Caroline: can you start by telling us what is human trafficking and maybe what are some of the biggest myths that [00:01:00] people believe about it?

Heather: Yeah, so human trafficking is the exploitation of human beings through force fraud or coercion for the purposes of either commercial sex. Or forced labor where a third party is profiting off of the backs of other people. So there’s always a trafficker or a pimp involved. A common myth I wanna touch on is a lot of people think that it’s typically a kidnapping situation that takes place.

Heather: But, I noted force fraud and coercion in the definition. And those three tactics are used as a means to lure a victim in as well as keep a victim compliant. And so typically a large percentage of those who are being trafficked. Actually know their trafficker. So there was a study done in 2021.

Heather: The Polaris, who runs the National Human Trafficking [00:02:00] Hotline, conducted a study of the survivors that they had identified in 2021. And what they found was. That 83% of them actually knew their trafficker, whether it was a casual online relationship, a friend or a family member, an intimate partner, or an employer.

Heather: So kidnapping does happen, but just at a much lower rate than people wanna believe. So it’s important for us to educate ourselves on the realities so that we’re, when we’re out on the roads or out in our communities, we know what to look for.

Caroline: Can you give us a little background about how Truckers against Trafficking started and why trucking?

Heather: Yeah. Our founder, was a mother who had read a book on modern day slavery. And she had four daughters, has four daughters, and she pulled her daughters around the kitchen table and said, we’ve got to do something. And so one of the things that was in their [00:03:00] awareness as a family is the hotel hospitality industry.

Heather: They had a family member that, ran a hotel where truck drivers would frequent and kind of a light bulb moment where they were like, who better than to assist law enforcement than truck drivers? They are trained to be vigilant. They are in places where trafficking is taking place, like rest areas, truck stops, hotels and motels, and they can truly aid in identifying things that just don’t look right and all they need to do is simply make a phone call.

Heather: So, our training, provides that education on the red flags to look for and what to do if a person thinks that they’re seeing something and the call to action is to simply make a phone call if something suspicious is taking place.

Caroline: I wanna return back to what you said about the myths that people don’t always understand. Where do those myths come from? Why do we have a misconception about who trafficking victims [00:04:00] might look like or what kind of situations they might be in?

Heather: I think Hollywood number one, has done a great job of kind of not a great job.

Caroline: Misleading us.

Heather: yeah. In misleading us. There we go. They have you know, shown us movies that make human trafficking look like a very sensationalized. Movie scene. And I think the other thing too is pimp culture has become very popular in the United States.

Heather: So we glorify pimp culture. If you think about you know, pimp My Ride or backpack ads, costumes for children that are of pimps there are pimps and hose parties. So in the US we’ve culturally created this perfect storm of glorifying pimp culture, and dehumanizing a prostituted person.

Heather: So if there’s a person let’s say out on a truck stop who looks to be selling herself, maybe she’s smiling, maybe she’s [00:05:00] addressed provocatively, there’s no way you can tell if that person is there of her own free will. You know. There might be somebody telling her what to do and she’s going to go out there and do what she has to do so that she doesn’t risk another beating or keep a family member safe.

Heather: It’s a dark crime. And it can be a very heavy thing to think about. And what we try to focus on is the fact that the trucking industry professional drivers have the opportunity every day to be heroes and potentially save a life. So, while it is dark and difficult to think about I always try to instill a lot of hope in these conversations and in my presentations that yes, it’s dark, but you have the power to help.

Heather: And it’s as simple as taking a second look and making a simple phone call. We don’t want people to intervene. We want them to be safe. And so I think because the [00:06:00] ask is so simple and the likelihood that they could be in everyday hero is there, I think, you know, people are very receptive to it.

Heather: And so, we get a lot of positive, feedback about our programming and, you know, the fact that we offer training that can be completed in less than 30 minutes. It’s documentary style featuring the lived experience of a survivor. So it’s not a dry classroom environment. And the fact that it offers them some hope that they can actively engage in the fight against human trafficking is, it’s a positive.

Heather: It’s, you know, something that people do want to get involved with.

Caroline: What are the steps that they should take when they make that call? What should they say? I.

Heather: So first and foremost, they need to kind of assess the situation, take a look at a description of any people, any vehicles a license plate number. And then when they make the phone call, tell law enforcement that they believe [00:07:00] that they are witnessing human trafficking and give all of that information if they’re not really sure what they’re seeing.

Heather: But they. Just feel that something is off, then calling the human trafficking hotline might be the better step. And the hotline will ask questions and try to ascertain what’s going on and if law enforcement needs to be called. So any if they’re believing that there’s. Actively seeing a crime in action, they should call law enforcement if they’re not sure what they’re seeing.

Heather: Go ahead and call the human trafficking hotline which is 8 8 8 3 7 3 7 8 8 8. And one thing, both the hotline and law enforcement has told us that it is okay to be wrong. They would rather a person make the phone call and have it not turn out to be a trafficking situation than to not make a phone call and risk that person endures a life of slavery.

Heather: The biggest thing to look for is any minor involved in commercial [00:08:00] sex. That automatically is a victim of human trafficking, forced fraud and coercion does not need to be proven in the case of a minor. So if it’s at a gas station, at a truck stop, at a rest area, and a child or somebody who looks really young participating in commercial sex, pick up the phone and make a phone call to law enforcement. And so that’s a very obvious one that they might be able to see. The second most obvious sign is going to be any sign of pimp control.

Heather: So what that might look like is we’ll use the truck stop lot, for example. It could be a a. Car or a van driven by typically a male dropping off typically a group of girls on the lot. And that trafficker could be involved in the bartering process and going you know, from person to person asking if they want to purchase.

Heather: That girl, they might witness, women and [00:09:00] girls who are dressed inappropriately for the weather or for the occasion they may see signs of tattooing or branding, and this would typically be maybe on their neck or on their hands. A barcode or a dollar sign or a person’s name which would indicate that they are property of somebody else and for sale.

Heather: If there is the potential to speak to a potential victim, there are some key questions that a person can ask. Do you know where you are? When’s the last time you saw your family? Are you in control of your own money and identification? And maybe just look at them and see if you see any signs of abuse or malnutrition.

Heather: And really just showing a little bit of kindness and curiosity could open a door for you to ask a key question, you know, who’s this guy that you’re with? But past that, we don’t want any sort of involvement with a potential trafficking situation. At that point, it would [00:10:00] be time to disengage and and make a phone call to law enforcement or the human trafficking hotline.

Caroline: How likely is that someone is just gonna tell me what situation they’re in or are they more likely to just try to hide it away?

Heather: No, I think it does happen. You know, we’ve got the instance of a truck stop worker who noticed a woman with a man and she seemed to be in distress, so she was able to catch the woman’s eye and kind of mouth, are you okay? The woman approached the counter and indicated that she was not okay.

Heather: So, jessica Chapman was the truck stop woman’s name and she pretended to take down information for a rewards card and got the information from that woman and was able to call law enforcement and and get that woman. Out of that situation. There definitely are situations where a a victim is going to say, Hey, I need help.

Heather: And so arming [00:11:00] yourself with the number, knowing the human trafficking hotline number we have window decals that we give up for free. And wallet cards, that have all of the information, including the hotline number right there for drivers to utilize, we wanna get these materials in the hands of drivers so that they can be of aid to somebody if they need it.

Heather: And one really great tool that I wanna mention is we have a smartphone app for iOS and Android. It’s free. Anybody can go to their app store and download it and it offers all of our training tools. It has case studies, it has all of the red flag indicators. It has all of the things that you need to look for in order to make a report into law enforcement.

Heather: And it also has this great geolocation functionality. So for drivers who are driving across the country or into Canada. If they go into the app to make a phone call, [00:12:00] it will auto-populate the correct number to call. So it’s a really great tool. So I hope that everybody will will download that app who’s listening as well as they’re able to access all of the training there.

Heather: We have training for over the road drivers, local drivers, movers, and in-home delivery. And we also have a new corporate video that is great for people who are not, professional drivers, but through that app they can access our training portal and through our website they can also access it.

Heather: And in less than 30 minutes they can be trained how to spot signs of human trafficking.

Caroline: Yeah. That’s amazing. Can you tell me a little bit about the impact of how TAT has changed the trucking industry to help this fight?

Heather: Yeah. So to date we have trained over 2 million individuals with our free training. So what we’re trying to do is build up a mobile army of eyes and ears out on the roads who are able to kind of shine spotlights in these dark corners where traffickers feel [00:13:00] like they’re hiding. Um,

Heather: We’ve got an army out there who can take a second look at situations and determine if a phone call needs to be made. So I think you know, right there is, that’s huge. As best that we can, we wanna help law enforcement because law enforcement can’t be in all places at all times. So the trucking industry and truck drivers in particular with their training they’re able to really make a difference.

Caroline: Well, you mentioned there’s a free mobile app with free trainings. I know that on the TAT website people can find more information as well. If one of our listeners, a lot of our listeners are small business owners, they may have drivers on their team, so maybe they’ve learned something today. What can they do if they’re interested in making sure that their team all gets trained and is aware of this issue?

Heather: Yeah, so we provide multiple avenues to roll out the training. If you are an owner operator, simply go to our website and [00:14:00] take the training directly from our free training portal. If you are a company owner and you utilize either an internal learning management system or an external learning management system, give me a call and we’ll get you all set up with everything You need to be able to roll out that training. If you are a small company who doesn’t utilize any of those but you maybe pull together your employees into a in-person training. We’ll deliver the MP four version of our. Training and you can knock out training in a half an hour for all of your employees.

Heather: So we don’t want you to recreate the wheel. We want it to be easy and accessible. And so we’ve got a variety of options for people to take the training.

Caroline: Great. Heather, is there anything else that you would like to share with our audience?

Heather: Just that they can make a difference. And this is an important thing. And you know, a lot of us we wanna make a lasting impact with our lives. [00:15:00] And we are. Maybe don’t know how to make that desire a reality, but folks in the trucking industry truly are positioned to spot signs of human trafficking and to do something about it.

Heather: And it’s a horrible, heinous crime. And we need everybody involved. All of us need to be looking and they truly can make a difference. So I hope that everybody will download the app and take our free training.

Caroline: Sometimes it’s as simple as just looking up from your phone, being observant. Looking around, I think truck drivers typically are even more observant than the rest of us. And so there, there’s really a huge potential for impact there.

Heather: Yeah, I think once people take the training too, their eyes are kind of opened and they start looking at the world a little differently. And you’re right, we’re, many of us are so distracted. I know I am by my phone and but when I go into certain situations now, my [00:16:00] eyes are just opened to the potential that somebody may need some help.

Caroline: Thank you so much, Heather, for joining us today. Really appreciate it, and we’re really grateful for the work that you do, and we hope that this helps spread the word

Heather: Thank you so much, Caroline.

Caroline: safe everyone.