FBI Issues Plea to Truckers

Thursday, March 24th, 2011 at 7:00 pm

Human Trafficking Training DVD

Truckers Against Trafficking has completed a training video and it is now available on DVD at no charge. This is a first of its kind DVD ever developed for training purposes on human trafficking which details how truck drivers, trucking companies, truck stops and travel plazas can play a vital role in combating this serious issue.

Trucking companies and Travel Plazas are encouraged to utilize the DVD within their driver/employee training programs to further the education process on how to recognize and help save victims of human trafficking. We would further recommend that CDL truck driver schools also make the human trafficking DVD a part of their training curriculum.

The training video/DVD features interviews from truck drivers, a prosecuting attorney and the FBI, which continues to issue a plea for help by professional truckers. The story of two Ohio teens are also featured, who were rescued from their human trafficking captors when one alert truck driver made a life saving call.

WATCH THE VIDEO.

Truckers Against Trafficking has released the following Press Release:

March 24, 2011

A first-of-its-kind training DVD on human trafficking and the critical role members of the trucking/travel plaza industry can have in fighting it is now available, free of charge.

“Because human trafficking becomes a costly, dangerous and relevant safety issue when it intersects with truckers and travel plaza employees, we hope trucking companies, travel plazas, truck-driving schools, state associations and national trucking associations will consider making this DVD a part of their orientation and training for all employees,” said Kendis Paris, a national coordinator for Truckers Against Trafficking. “Traffickers are continually moving their victims along our nations’ highways and roads. Truckers, travel plaza employees and the entire trucking industry can become heroes in the fight against human trafficking as they are educated on the issue and then take action to fight it.”

The DVD features interviews with the FBI, a prosecuting attorney, truckers who have seen human trafficking taking place on their routes, a trafficking victim rescued from a truck stop through the call of a trucker, actual footage of prostituted women at a travel plaza and information on concrete ways members of the trucking/travel plaza industry can fight this crime in the course of their daily work.

The DVD was produced by iEmpathize, an arts and advocacy non profit (www.iempathize.com) that creates opportunities for people to explore and engage in issues of injustice.

The DVD can be seen in its entirety at www.truckersagainsttrafficking.com. It can be downloaded from http://vimeo.com/21392891. Or you can request a DVD by e-mailing chapter61@gmail.com. An audio version of the DVD is currently in the works for use as a training module for truckers who are on-the-road and not available for office training programs.

Human trafficking is an international issue and a $32-billion industry. More than 27 million people are enslaved in the world today. In the United States, some 300,000 people are estimated to be trafficking annually in this country, with 100,000 of those trafficking into the sex industry. The average age for children being forced into the sex industry in the United States is 12. Any minor engaged in the sex industry is a victim of human trafficking. An additional 17,500 men, women and children are estimated to be trafficking into the United States annually for various types of forced labor, including sex work.

Truckers Against Trafficking is an initiative of Chapter 61 Ministries (www.chapter61.com) 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 ; 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 ; the training DVD and publicity and promotion.

For more information, please contact chapter61@gmail.com or Kendis Paris at 720-202-1037.

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