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Human Trafficking in the News
Undertow of exploitation: how teens get trapped in human trafficking
Her story began like so many others, with an exploitation of trust. Edie Rhea is a survivor of sex trafficking. Her formative years were largely spent being sold for sex by her mother's boyfriend. It began when she was 10 and lasted until she was 17 years old.
 
Anti-human trafficking apps increase awareness and action
from churches to truck stops
The United Nations (UN) wants to end slavery by 2030. Slavery is the second largest criminal industry in the world -- tied with arms dealing -- with 40 million people in some form of servitude and profits of $150 billion in 2015. This will require action from individual citizens, government leaders, and corporate executives. Technology is often used to enable human trafficking, but leaders from all sectors of the tech world are starting to use this same power to help stop sexual exploitation and forced labor.
 
2019 Trafficking in Persons Report
The 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report is available in PDF and HTML formats. The PDF is available as a complete one-piece file and as individual sections for easier download. To view the PDF files, you will need to download, at no cost, the Adobe Acrobat Reader. To request a hard copy of the 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report, please email TIPOutreach@state.gov and provide your mailing address. Please note that due to high demand, your order may not be processed right away.
BOTL makes in-roads to transit and school buses throughout the United States
The BOTL campaign in Las Vegas speaks directly to victims.
Busing on the Lookout (BOTL) has launched a victim-centered campaign in Las Vegas in partnership with the Nevada Highway Patrol and made possible with donated advertising space from Vector Media. BOTL victim-centered posters can now be seen at bus shelters and on buses throughout the city of Las Vegas. These posters, created in consultation with survivors of domestic sex trafficking, use language and images to catch the eye of victims, so they know there are resources out there to support them.

In seeking to reach victims with this campaign, Trooper Brian Drohn with the Nevada Highway Patrol emphasized, "You're not alone. We're here for you. Our hands are outstretched, and we want to help. This life does not need to be your reality - your nightmare - anymore." The posters will be up in Las Vegas for up to a year.

The launch of this campaign is just one of several major milestones the BOTL program, now in its second year, has made in recent months. As transit agencies in 21 states are beginning to adopt the BOTL training, and student transportation partners in 27 states are sharing the BOTL materials with school bus drivers, the program is adding thousands more eyes and ears in communities throughout the country.

BOTL continues to make progress across the United States.

This summer, Annie Sovcik, BOTL director, has done train-the-trainer sessions with school bus trainers in Illinois and Tennessee, as both states prepare to roll-out the BOTL training during the 2019/2020 school year, reaching a combined total of almost 50,000 school bus drivers. Beyond that, in the months of June and July, Sovcik and TAT Training Specialist Louie Greek have addressed student transportation leaders at two national conferences hosted by School Transportation News in Indianapolis, Indiana and Reno, Nevada and at state pupil transportation association conferences in Wisconsin, Maine and South Carolina. 

BOTL has reached new transit audiences in the Pacific Northwest, as well as transit providers on a national level. First Transit, a major transit contractor, has been training all of its 12,000 bus drivers in 39 states, and the National Rural Transit Assistance Program, which many tribal and rural community transportation providers rely on for their training needs, has incorporated BOTL into its online course offerings. 
 
This year's Harriet Tubman Award winners were employees of the bus industry who had been trained with BOTL materials.
Freedom Drivers Project publishes mid-year report


The Freedom Drivers Project (FDP) has published a  mid-year report detailing its impact for the first six months of 2019, honoring the companies which have hauled the FDP the most and demonstrating how its presence has aided other TAT programs in the work they do.

Wherever it goes, the FDP gains fans, like Laurie Dodge, Junior League Chief Brand Officer, who said, "TAT's Freedom Drivers Project offered sage words during a riveting standing-room-only panel conversation with (anti-human trafficking and children's rights leaders) Theresa Flores, Carol Smolenski and Kate Lee and a hands-on training in truck-stop activism. These opportunities were invaluable to League leaders, as they work closely with partners in communities near and far to eradicate this horrific epidemic."
Two summers of law enforcement training 
in Oregon completed

Annika Huff, TAT field trainer and survivor-advocate
TAT Deputy Director Kylla Lanier and Field Trainer and Survivor-Advocate Annika Huff have completed two week-long July trips to various locations in Oregon to train 167 law enforcement officers two years running.
 
In 2018, they trained Oregon State Patrol (OSP) and various law enforcement from Oregon DOT (ODOT) in Roseburg, Bend, Salem and Portland. This July, they trained OSP, ODOT and local police and sheriffs departments in Central Point, Klamath Falls, LaGrande, and The Dalles.
 
"In traveling the state of Oregon to train on the realities of human trafficking, we have met dedicated officers in every city who become both enraged and impassioned to fight this crime against humanity," declared Lanier. "We're grateful for the commitment of ODOT to sponsor the eight trainings that have been held in the last 12 months across their state. In recognizing the trucking and busing industries as critical in the fight against this crime, adopting our Iowa MVE model and redoubling efforts to raise awareness about the indicators of trafficking, Oregon is making a difference!"
 
On surveys completed by class participants, one ODOT officer wrote, "Very powerful and amazing information. It's going to take me time to fully process all of this information, but I feel like I have a far greater responsibility with my position than I did before this presentation. I also come from a family of truckers who are in the industry. They will all be getting this information."
 
Kylla Lanier, TAT deputy director
Some of the actions taken by Oregon law enforcement as a result of the trainings have included expanding the TAT wallet card distribution at all weigh stations and ports of entry throughout the state, handing out TAT materials to each professional driver at a 48-hour truck inspection detail and introducing BOTL materials to the busing companies in the state. Lanier says law enforcement in the towns just trained will be both continuing and expanding their efforts in reaching the CV industry.
Upcoming Events

Aug. 1 - Cottingham and Butler Transportation Summit, Schaumburg, IL, Laura Cyrus, TAT corporate engagement director, presenting

Aug. 1 - Mid-Atlantic Coalition Build, Hanover, MD, Esther Goetsch, TAT CB director, Kylla Lanier, TAT deputy director, Annie Sovcik, BOTL director, Beth Jacobs, TAT field trainer and survivor-advocate, presenting, and the FDP and Helen Van Dam, FDP director, attending

Aug. 3 - Great Dane Terra Haute and Brazil plants employee appreciation events, the FDP and Helen Van Dam, FDP director, attending

Aug. 5 - Mapleton School District training, Denver, CO, Annie Sovcik, BOTL director, presenting

Aug. 8  - Iowa State Fair, Des Moines, IA, FDP and Helen Van Dam, FDP director, attending

Aug. 14 - Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance North American Inspectors Championship, Pittsburgh, PA, Kylla Lanier, TAT deputy director, and Annika Huff, TAT field trainer and survivor-advocate, presenting

Aug. 20 - BASF corporate training event, Houston, TX, Laura Cyrus, TAT corporate engagement director, and Beth Jacobs, TAT field trainer and survivor-advocate, presenting

Aug. 21-24 - Great American Trucking Show, Dallas, TX, FDP and TAT Team attending

Aug. 23 - National Training Center USDOT/FMCSA, Norman, OK, Kylla Lanier, TAT deputy director, and Annika Huff, TAT field trainer and survivor-advocate, presenting

Aug. 26 - BNSF Logistics, Flower Mound, TX, FDP and Susan Dold, TAT systems administrator, attending

Aug. 27 - New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division Managers' Conference, Albuquerque, NM, Louis Greek, TAT training specialist, presenting

Aug. 28-29 - New Hampshire Law Enforcement Trainings, Concord, NH, Kylla Lanier, TAT deputy director, and Annika Huff, TAT field trainer and survivor-advocate, presenting
TAT's work is made possible through the generous support of our corporate sponsors, foundation partners and individual donors. Our education, training, legislative engagement, and advocacy efforts would not exist without those who invest in the change that we work towards each day. If you are interested in learning more about how you can provide financial support, please visit our corporate engagement webpage 
or contact Laura Cyrus at 612-888-4828 or lcyrus@truckersagainsttrafficking.org to explore our giving opportunities.
Thank you to our copper level and above individual donors!
Diamond:
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Bronze: 
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Truckers Against Trafficking 
PO Box 816 | Englewood, CO 80151
tat.truckers@gmail.com

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