The new Man to Man anti-human trafficking campaign, spearheaded by the American Trucking Associations and Truckers Against Trafficking, aims to address the demand for sexual services that drives human trafficking.

Truckers Against Trafficking has long fought to raise awareness about the problem and train industry professionals to identify and report instances of trafficking. In a Feb. 21 press conference on Capitol Hill, TAT joined Demand Abolition, Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking, ATA’s America’s Road Team, UPS, and Walmart, to launch the Man to Man Campaign.

The Man to Man Campaign is founded on the belief that if there were no demand for commercial sex, then sex trafficking would not exist.

“At the very root of the sex trafficking and sexual exploitation epidemic sweeping our nation and world is the demand,” said Truckers Against Trafficking Deputy Director Kylla Lanier. “The prostituted person, and more recently, the traffickers have been the focus of attention and arrests, while the buyer goes home with a warning. This must change. … When all is said and done, if there is no buyer, there would be no victim.”

The goal of the Man to Man campaign is to highlight drivers who advocate strongly against and keep an eye out for trafficking, featuring them on on websites, social media pages, and on banners at speaking engagements throughout the country. The banners will also flank TAT’s Freedom Drivers Project, a touring tractor-trailer exhibition about human trafficking that stops at trucking’s major events.

Want to learn more about TAT''s #mantomancampaign
Check out our websitehttps://t.co/IrU1M8i5Bt

— TAT (@TATKylla) February 21, 2018

According to national survey results from Demand Abolition, 20% of adult men ages 18-64 have bought or would consider buying commercial sex if the circumstances permitted. Further, approximately 35% of men have searched online sex ads but not engaged in the transaction.

Increasingly, major transportation brands and corporations are positioned to leverage use their influence and leadership to raise awareness about the issue and effect change. 

“Our industry’s voice is powerful,” said ATA COO Elisabeth Barna. “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, That starts by having difficult conversations with people in our communities.”

Captain John McKown of @UPSers speaks at the Truckers Against Trafficking press conference for the launch of their Man to Man campaign. Thanks for spreading this important message, John. pic.twitter.com/wH46mIuYqn

— America's Road Team (@AmericaRoadTeam) February 21, 2018

Truckers Against Trafficking has created a web page, https://truckersagainsttrafficking.org/man-to-man/, dedicated to the Man to Man Campaign. Site visitors can learn more about how private sector stakeholders are addressing the issue, how to react to signs of human trafficking, and discover ways to share the Man to Man Campaign message with individuals in their communities.