Today is the first day of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) five-day annual awareness and outreach effort to educate commercial motor vehicle drivers, motor carriers, law enforcement officers and the general public about the crime of human trafficking, the signs to look for and what to do if you suspect someone is being trafficked.
This week, U.S. law enforcement jurisdictions, motor carrier companies and transportation safety organizations will track their human trafficking awareness and outreach activities and submit that data to the Alliance. CVSA will gather and analyze that data and report the results this summer.
In the months leading up to the Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative, CVSA educated its membership and the general public on human trafficking through webinars, social media, articles, radio appearances and online resources.
The Alliance partnered with Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) to distribute wallet cards, posters and window decals, which are still available upon request. Furthermore, CVSA, in collaboration with TAT, worked with the Paramount/CBS network to conduct a nationwide digital media campaign using human trafficking awareness public service announcement (PSA) videos, which will air through March during commercial breaks of streaming television shows and movies on Pluto TV, Paramount+ and local streaming service EYEQ Local.
The PSAs feature a human trafficking survivor, truck driver and commercial vehicle enforcement officer. The PSAs are available for public use and distribution as 15- and 30-second videos and an extended five-minute video.
CVSA’s Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative dates align with U.S. National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, which is Jan. 11, and National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, which is January.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts. Coercion may be subtle or overt, physical or psychological.
If you suspect someone is in a human trafficking situation or you are the victim of human trafficking, call the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 or text 233733. The hotline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Support is provided in more than 200 languages and all calls are confidential and answered live by highly trained anti-trafficking hotline advocates.
To find out what your local jurisdiction is doing to increase human trafficking awareness, contact the agency/department responsible for overseeing commercial motor vehicle safety within your state or territory.
CVSA is comprised of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal commercial motor vehicle safety officials and industry representatives in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. As a North American organization, Canada and Mexico will also be participating in CVSA’s 2024 Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative. In Canada, the initiative is scheduled for Feb. 19-23, and in Mexico, it will be March 11-15.
The Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative is part of CVSA’s Human Trafficking Prevention Program. The program seeks to reduce human trafficking throughout North America through coordinated enforcement and investigative and educational awareness measures within the commercial motor vehicle industry.