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Human Trafficking in the News
Four sex trafficking victims sue hotel for doing nothing to help them
In 2014, a woman was  kidnapped   off the street, injected with heroin, and forced to have sex with men for money out of a hotel in Salisbury, Maryland. According to  a local affiliate of the USA Today Network , the woman managed to access the internet while her captors slept, and she wrote a message to her boyfriend through Facebook. From there, she was rescued by police, and the men who abducted her were arrested, uncovering a gruesome human trafficking operation.
 
FBI: 'Sex trafficking won't stop until people stop consuming it'
One of the biggest questions surrounding human trafficking is how to stop it. Nearly everyone agrees the first step is education. 
 
NC law enforcement officers work with truckers to stop human trafficking
By Anne Blythe ... A group of law enforcement officers, truckers and others teamed up Thursday to talk about human trafficking and efforts to stop it in North Carolina. The state, with its college towns, military bases, agricultural land, Interstates 95 and 85 and 301 miles of ocean shoreline, consistently ranks high in human trafficking, according to N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein. 
Need your certificate as a TAT-Trained driver?

A number of states are now working to pass legislation mandating that either entry-level Class A CDL applicants or renewal applicants have human trafficking training and/or become certified TAT-Trained as part of their testing requirements.
 
To help drivers become compliant with that law -- or even comply with a company mandate for TAT training -- TAT has created a portal on our website where anyone can go to watch the TAT training video, take a test on it and receive a printable certificate, showing that they have completed the training. Each person will register to take the training, thereby creating an account. Should they pass the test and earn the certificate, they can print it out. If they ever lose the certificate, they can log back in to their account and print another.
 
"Providing this portal on our website saves state monies, as the training and certificate cost no one anything, other than the sheet of paper needed to print the certificate," said Kendis Paris, TAT executive director. "It is our hope that this portal will make it easy and convenient for drivers to fulfill their human trafficking training requirement, and that in so doing, they will be better equipped to fight human trafficking should they see it any time, any place, in their travels."
                                                             To check out the portal, click here . 
Make your smartphone smarter with the TAT app

If you have a smart phone, TAT has an App for you. For many years, the only TAT app available was for Android phones, but, today, you can download a TAT app from the Google Play Store or iTunes Play Store or from the Windows Play Store, for Android, iPhone or Windows phones, respectively.
 
The apps feature the TAT wallet card information in an easy-to-follow format. Get your app today, so you have the TAT wallet card with you always.
 
Click here for more information.
Thanks to your support, TAT meets matching grant total
 
"We can't say enough to express our appreciation for the supporters and partners who have stepped up this month -- our first month in this matching grant cycle -- to enable us to complete our goal," enthused Kendis Paris, TAT executive director. "This is absolutely fantastic and will enable us to accomplish so much in the coming months."
 
As of March 31, TAT had already received $40,369 toward a goal of $40,000 in order to receive a matching grant of $40,000 from Change a Path (CAP).
 
CAP, an organization providing financial grants to support not-for-profit organizations working in the sex-trafficking space, has been a major supporter of TAT's coalition builds for the past three years. Coalition builds are strategic half-day trainings to unify the efforts of law enforcement and trucking representatives and close loopholes to traffickers. TAT works with a state's attorney general's office to host coalition builds. Last year, TAT held nine of these events, thanks, in large part, to the funding CAP provided.
 
This matching grant will not only fund eight additional coalition builds in 2017 but will provide funds for other TAT programs. CAP likes to provide matching fund grants to bring funders and supporters together to maximize their impact for the organization they are supporting.

T AT cements relationship with Consejo Ciudadano in Mexico City


With so many professional drivers now crossing borders in their jobs, traversing Mexico, the United States and Canada, TAT prints wallet cards in English and Spanish (a French Canadian card is available on our website) to ensure consistent messaging and that a vigilant population of drivers is equipped with the information they need. Until recently, however, the National Human Trafficking Hotline number, 1-888-3737-888, was the only number on the card. But late last year, Mexico's human trafficking hotline became operational 24/7, and TAT began including that information on the cards as well. The Mexican hotline, 01800-5533-000, is partnered with Polaris Project, which runs the US National Human Trafficking Hotline.
 
Kylla Lanier, TAT deputy director, and Luis Wertman Zaslav, president of Consejo Ciudadano, signed "framable copies" of the agreement between TAT and Consejo Ciudadano.
In March, TAT Deputy Director Kylla Lanier also traveled to Mexico City to meet with members of Consejo Ciudadano (Citizen's Council) to strategize on the replication of TAT's model to engage the members of their trucking industry in the fight against human trafficking.
 
"We're impressed with the inroads Consejo Ciudadano has made in combatting crime in their country, and we're excited to work with them and strategize on ways to engage Mexico's trucking industry in this fight," said Lanier. "The two days of meetings with Consejo Ciudadano staff were extremely productive and encouraging, and we look forward to a deepening relationship going forward. United, we can have a broader impact in the fight against human trafficking and see more victims recovered and more perpetrators brought to justice." 

Drivers step up to help with TAT training, projects at MATS

Tim Rader from the Walmart Road Team volunteered at the TAT booth.
At this year's Mid-America Truck Show in Louisville, Kentucky on March 23-25, the TAT team found themselves with plenty of opportunities to speak with fleet owners, company drivers and owner-operators about the realities of domestic sex trafficking.
 
"We heard from drivers whose own families have been affected by sexual exploitation to others who have made calls on behalf of victims and seen the recovery with their own eyes," said Kendis Paris, TAT executive director. "We ran into a lot of long-time supporters, and, hopefully, taught hundreds of new drivers about TAT and what to do when they see forced prostitution taking place. We also are so thankful for our time with the Walmart Road Team, and the American Trucking Associations Road Team Captains, as both either volunteered at our booth or worked with us on a current project."
 
TAT was also able to complete two training certification sessions led by Kylla Lanier, TAT's deputy director. Both training sessions were sponsored by the Kentucky Trucking Association, a TAT partner, and the Friday seminar was even featured in the Transport Topics Saturday show report. Kevin Kimmel, TAT's 2015 Harriet Tubman Award winner, also participated in the certification trainings and gave drivers a firsthand account of why it's so important to make the call as soon as you suspect something is not right.
Kevin Kimmel, TAT's 2015 Harriet Tubman Award winner, posed for photos with some of the members of the TAT team, from left, Molly Wolff, board member, Kendis Paris, TAT executive director, Kylla Lanier, TAT deputy director, and Stephanie Walton, TAT state-based initiatives director.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey climbed into the Everyday Heroes truck to check it out and honk the horn.
TAT joins Inland Kenworth, Utility Trailer Sales Company of Arizona to make presentations to Arizona Human Trafficking Council

Lyn Thompson, TAT communications specialist, Don Blake, new truck sales manager for Inland Kenworth, and George Cravens, president of Utility Trailer Sales Company of Arizona, presented to the Arizona Human Trafficking Council on March 22. Thompson provided an overview of TAT, while Blake and Cravens spoke about the Everyday Heroes 2018 Kenworth tractor that will be auctioned off at Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers on June 20, with all proceeds going to TAT. Toward the end of the meeting, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey thanked the Council for their work to fight human trafficking, as well as TAT and the trucking industry, and then led council members and the audience to the capitol entrance to view the Everyday Heroes truck and take photos.
 
"It was a privilege to present to the Arizona Human Trafficking Council, co-chaired by Cindy McCain and Gil Orrantia, and to hear about the comprehensive work this team of professionals is doing to fight human trafficking in Arizona and beyond," said Thompson. "Everyone I spoke with was just as complimentary of the efforts of the trucking industry nationwide in the fight against this crime. And I wish everyone could have heard all the 'oohs' and 'aahs' over the Kenworth tractor that will be auctioned off. Gov. Ducey even sat in the cab and had fun honking the horn. It is a beautiful, signature, one-of-a-kind truck that catches people's attention." 
Upcoming Events

April 1-2 - FDP at Flatirons Church, Lafayette, CO, Helen Van Dam, FDP director, attending

April 6 - Training Third-Party Testers, Golden, CO

April 10-11 - Bridgestone (BCS) Dealership Meeting, Orlando, FL, Kendis Paris, TAT executive director, presenting

April 18-19 - Training Third-Party Testers, Colorado Springs, CO

April 19-21 - Oregon Trucking Association Spring Safety Conference, Eugene, OR, Kylla Lanier, TAT deputy director, presenting

April 19-20 - Alaska Trucking Association Conference, Anchorage, AK, Helen Van Dam, FDP director, presenting

April 19 - ConocoPhillips Roundtable Meeting, Houston, TX, Kendis Paris, TAT executive director, presenting

April 28-29 - Mississippi Truck Driving Championships, Gulfport, MS, FDP and Helen Van Dam, FDP director, attending
Truckers Against Trafficking 
PO Box 816 | Englewood, CO 80151

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