Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW) Airport joined more than 250 transportation leaders in signing the Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking pledge on Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020.
The pledge was among the “100 Pledges in 100 Days” announced by U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine L. Chao focused on efforts to combat human trafficking in the transportation sector. Secretary Chao was joined by leaders from Congress, state governments, and the transportation industry responding to this call to action.
In 2018, DFW Airport began a partnership with A21, a global anti-trafficking nonprofit organization, to promote awareness in all terminals. The campaign titled “Can you see me?” has an average potential reach of almost 6.5 million people each month. It aims to bring awareness to the issue, educates passengers on the signs of trafficking and provides numbers to call for help.
“Human trafficking is one of the most widespread human rights abuses of our day,” DFW Airport CEO Sean Donohue said. “We have been committed to fighting human trafficking for several years. As one of the busiest airports in the world, DFW is uniquely positioned to bring awareness to the cause. We are honored to expand our efforts by joining Secretary Chao and more than 250 of our colleagues in the transportation industry to take crucial next steps to ending modern day slavery.”
Those who signed the pledge reinforced their commitment to support a coordinated effort across the transportation industry and promised to train the transportation workforce and raise public awareness on the issue of human trafficking across all modes of transportation. Specifically, the pledge targets efforts to:
- Educate employees and organization members on how to recognize and report the signs of human trafficking.
- Raise awareness among the traveling public on human trafficking issues by utilizing common messaging in targeted outreach campaigns.
- Measure the collective impact on human trafficking by tracking and sharing key data points among international, federal and local agencies and organizations.
More details on the DOT announcement can be found at this link.