Original article published by CVSA
Photo: CVSA
All three of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) member countries – Canada, Mexico and the U.S. – participated in this year’s Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative (HTAI), a five-day awareness and outreach campaign to educate commercial motor vehicle drivers, motor carriers, law enforcement officers and the general public about human trafficking.
Forty-five jurisdictions took part in this year’s Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative, with participation from 3,020 individual law enforcement officers/troopers/inspectors. There were 218 human trafficking awareness and preventions events, and 219 presentations were delivered. In addition, there were 8,352 media contacts throughout North America.CVSA collaborated with Truckers Against Trafficking to offer human trafficking identification and prevention training and reference materials to the motor carrier industry and law enforcement. During the five days of HTAI, 45,972 wallet cards and 21,763 window decals were distributed.After the successful launch of CVSA’s HTAI in 2022 and positive feedback from jurisdictions, CVSA extended the initiative from three days to five for 2023. Different dates were set for each country to align existing human trafficking awareness days with CVSA’s five-day Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative. In the U.S., the initiative took place Jan. 9-13. In Canada, it was Feb. 20-24. And in Mexico, it was March 13-17.Next year’s HTAI dates are Jan. 8-12, 2024, in the U.S.; Feb. 19-23, 2024, in Canada; and March 11-15, 2024, in Mexico.If you suspect someone is in a human trafficking situation or you are the victim of human trafficking:
- In the U.S., call 888-373-7888.
- In Canada, call 833-900-1010.
- In Mexico, call 800-5533-000.
To find out what your local jurisdiction is doing to increase human trafficking awareness and prevent human trafficking throughout the year, contact the agency/department responsible for overseeing commercial motor vehicle safety within your state, province or territory.
CVSA’s Human Trafficking Prevention Program seeks to reduce human trafficking through coordinated enforcement and investigations and educational awareness.
View last year’s HTAI results.
