Truck drivers are being recruited to help spot human trafficking—described as modern day slavery of people forced into sex work. Susan Dold with Truckers Against Trafficking says drivers are out there in great numbers and can spot the crime.
Dold says some boys, men, and older women are trafficked. Teen girls and young women are the usual victims. A girl with a tattoo and traveling with an older man could have been forced into prostitution by him and made to bear his mark of ownership.
To help get more truck drivers to join the fight, Truckers Against Trafficking took its Freedom Drivers Project trailer to the Walmart distribution center in Spring Valley today. Inside are displays and presentations to introduce visitors to what human trafficking is and how it’s done. And they’re told what to do about it. Dold says call 888-373-7888 to get law enforcement involved.
Whether or not you’re a truck driver, Dold says there are things you should know about human trafficking. Some perpetrators groom their victims for a long time. The perpetrator could be a seemingly nice person who befriends a family and then turns against someone in it, manipulating the person into sex work or other trouble.
There’s more information about human trafficking at the Truckers Against Trafficking website.
Dold tells much more in this interview:
Inside the Project Freedom Riders trailer, Truckers Against Trafficking tells about people forced into sex work and shows objects associated with it. Shown here are clothing from two victims.
Two teenage girls had to practice stripping in front of this mirror shown in the Truckers Against Trafficking Freedom Drivers Project trailer.
A truck driver learns about what’s inside the Truckers Against Trafficking Freedom Drivers Project trailer.