Human tracking is a global problem affecting millions of people each year who are illegally lured into forced labor and sexual exploitation through force, fraud, or coercion. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security estimates that human tracking is second only to drug tracking as the most profitable form of transnational crime, generating billions of dollars per year in illicit profit.1 All victims of tracking share one essential experience: the loss of freedom.
Businesses today are increasingly global, meaning that it is no longer a matter if a business will come into contact with human tra cking but when. It is therefore important to be prepared. In the marketplace, everyone understands the principle of supply and demand. Demand creates a market, and supply will meet demand, with unscrupulous exploiters working to fill it with an eye to the greatest profit margin for themselves. Traffickers use violence, intimidation, and manipulation as trafficking is often hidden in plain sight. Therefore, no demand = no victim = no trafficking. The business community is well positioned to be on the frontline in the fight against trafficking. From a risk management approach, anti-trafficking training should be provided in the workplace. Companies should also adopt an anti-trafficking-in-persons policy with a demand-reduction focus. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, in collaboration with Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT), a nonprofit organization that educates, equips, empowers, and mobilizes members of the trucking, bus, and energy industries to combat human trafficking, produced this toolkit to highlight resources and best practices on how to help end this heinous crime.
It’s not just good business practice. It’s the right thing to do.
