"Here we are, I'm 15 years old, my cousin is 14, we're here at a truckstop, you know, being forced to work it, being forced to go truck to truck asking, you know, if the guys would like to have sex with us."
Human trafficking, a term for modern-day slavery, is a $32 billion worldwide industry with more than 27 million people enslaved. It's not just a foreign problem. It has been reported in all 50 states, and the number of victims in the United States is estimated in the hundreds of thousands.
Traffickers move their victims along major trucking routes and highways to keep them from getting too familiar with the people who use/buy them. They stop at gas stations, truckstops and rest areas. If truckers are trained to spot signs of human trafficking, they can call a national hotline, which will in turn alert FBI and local police.
A few years ago, a group called Truckers Against Trafficking decided to tackle this problem head-on. TAT offers a training video, posters that fleets can display, wallet-sized cards for truckers with a national trafficking hotline number to call, 1-888-373-7888.
