The American Trucking Associations (ATA) and other industry organizations recently launched the Man to Man Campaign, aimed at eliminating the demand for human trafficking in the transportation industry.
The campaign encourages men to talk about the inhuman practices of sex traffickers to those seeking commercial sex. The campaign’s founders believe that if demand disappears, human trafficking will end.
Many sexual transactions and online sex ad searches happen on the way to or from work and during lunch breaks, data shows.
Twenty percent of men ages 18-64 have either bought commercial sex or would consider it if circumstances permitted while an additional 35 percent of men have searched online sex ads but have not bought commercial sex, according to a Demand Abolition survey.
“From truck drivers to dock workers to dispatchers throughout the supply chain, if we can continue talking to one another about the atrocity that is human trafficking, we can make substantial progress toward our goal of eliminating it,” ATA COO Elisabeth Barna said. “Now that our industry is aware that human trafficking is a problem, we want to challenge trucking to take the next step in its eradication. That starts by having difficult conversations with people in our communities, but we know we’re up for the challenge.”