CVSA Kicks Off Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative

Human Trafficking PSA CVSA Contact from CVSA Multimedia on Vimeo.

Monday was the first day of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s five-day annual awareness and outreach effort to educate commercial motor vehicle drivers, motor carriers, law enforcement officers, and the general public about the crime of human trafficking, the signs to look for, and what to do if you suspect someone is being trafficked.

This week, U.S. law enforcement jurisdictions, motor carrier companies, and transportation safety organizations will track their human trafficking awareness and outreach activities and submit that data to the alliance. CVSA will gather and analyze that data and report the results this summer.

In the months leading up to the Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative, CVSA educated its membership and the general public on human trafficking through webinars, social media, articles, radio appearances, and online resources.

Truckers Against Trafficking

The alliance partnered with Truckers Against Trafficking to distribute wallet cards, posters, and window decals, which are still available upon request.

In collaboration with TAT, CVSA also worked with the Paramount/CBS network to conduct a nationwide digital media campaign using human trafficking awareness public service announcement videos, which will air through March during commercial breaks of streaming television shows and movies on Pluto TV, Paramount+ and local streaming service EYEQ Local.

The PSAs feature a human trafficking survivor, truck driver, and a commercial vehicle enforcement officer. The PSAs are available for public use and distribution as 15- and 30-second videos and an extended five-minute video.

U.S. National Human Trafficking Awareness Day 

CVSA’s Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative dates align with U.S. National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, which is Jan. 11, and National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, which is January.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking involves compelling or coercing a person to provide labor or services, or to engage in commercial sex acts. Coercion may be subtle or overt, physical, or psychological.

National Hotline 

If you suspect someone is in a human trafficking situation or you are the victim of human trafficking, call the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888 or text 233733. The hotline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Support is provided in more than 200 languages and all calls are confidential and answered live by highly trained anti-trafficking hotline advocates.