NATSO Foundation Partners With DHS Blue Campaign to Fight Human Trafficking

ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The NATSO Foundation today announced a new partnership between the NATSO Foundation and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Blue Campaign to combat human trafficking.

This partnership marks the latest chapter in the NATSO Foundation's multi-pronged anti-human trafficking initiative aimed at creating awareness and educating the truckstop and travel plaza industry to fight human trafficking along America's Interstate Highway System.

"As an industry that caters to millions of travelers every year, truckstops and travel plazas and their employees are in a key position to help identify and stop human trafficking along America's highway system," said NATSO Foundation President Lisa Mullings. "Sadly, human trafficking has been reported across all modes of transportation and in many legitimate businesses that unknowingly are used for this illicit activity. Truckstops and travel plazas are effectively creating the equivalent of a Neighborhood Watch program so that our industry is equipped to help if we encounter a victim of this horrible crime."

For more than five years, the NATSO Foundation has been helping members of the truckstop and travel plaza community engage in the fight against human trafficking. The NATSO Foundation's goal is to provide the truckstop and travel plaza industry with the necessary tools to train owners, operators and employees so that those individuals are equipped to help if they encounter a victim of this horrible crime.  

The NATSO Foundation works closely with the Department of Transportation, Polaris Project, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Truckers Against Trafficking and other organizations to gain insight into best practices on how to educate members of the truckstop and travel plaza community to identify suspected cases of human trafficking and report the information to the appropriate authorities.

The NATSO Foundation in 2016 launched an online course titled, "The Role of Truckstops in Combating Human Trafficking" to help truckstops and travel plazas train their staff in recognizing and responding to suspected incidents of human trafficking. The course is available on the NATSO Foundation's website free of charge so that any member of the truckstop and travel plaza industry can leverage this educational resource. The course can be accessed at www.natso.com/onlinelearning. 

Through this alliance with the DHS Blue Campaign, the NATSO Foundation will provide the DHS Blue Campaign's training and awareness materials – including posters, handouts and other materials — to the nation's truckstops and travel plazas. These materials will enhance the NATSO Foundation's educational resources.

For more information on each of the NATSO Foundation's initiatives to combat human trafficking visit the NATSO Foundation website.

The NATSO Foundation is the research, education and public outreach subsidiary of NATSO, Inc. (the trade association of America's travel plaza and truckstop industry). The foundation is organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information, visit www.natso.com.

Contact: Tiffany Wlazlowski Neuman
(703) 739-8578

SOURCE NATSO Foundation

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