THIS SEMI TRUCK will visit Findlay Wednesday as part of an awareness campaign about human trafficking. The decorated truck, sponsored by the Freedom Drivers Project, travels the country and disseminates information about trafficking. (Photo provided to The Courier)
By SARA ARTHURS
Staff Writer
Northwestern Ohio is a busy area for human trafficking, and truckers and Zonta club members are teaming together to open people’s eyes to the issue.
On Wednesday, an exhibit known as the “Freedom Drivers Project” will be in Findlay as part of an educational effort. Area trucking executives will tour the exhibit, after which it will be open to the public from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Ohio Logistics Corporate Headquarters, 1800 Industrial Drive.
The Ohio government defines human trafficking as “a form of modern-day slavery where people profit from the control and exploitation of others.” Victims are forced, defrauded or coerced into trafficking and exploited for labor, services or commercial sex.
“The reality is human trafficking is in our community,” said Tom Blunk, director of the Center for Safe and Healthy Children.
He said the average age of a person forced into sex trafficking is 12.
Worldwide, there are an estimated 20.9 million slaves, and human trafficking is a $32 billion industry, according to the nonprofit organization Truckers Against Trafficking, which sponsors the Freedom Drivers Project. The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that anywhere between 100,000 and 300,000 American children are at risk of entering the sex trade each year.
Garner Transportation Group, working with Zonta Club of Findlay, invited Truckers Against Trafficking to Findlay. Truckers Against Trafficking, according to its mission statement, “exists to educate, equip, empower and mobilize members of the trucking and travel plaza industry to combat domestic sex trafficking.”
The Freedom Drivers Project is a trailer that travels the country with an exhibit about trafficking including an informational DVD, artifacts from trafficking cases and information about Truckers Against Trafficking and how truckers are working to end human trafficking.
The trailer is being used as a recruitment tool within the trucking industry to get truckers involved with Truckers Against Trafficking but will also travel the country to teach audiences about the realities of domestic sex trafficking and ways it can be combated.
The trailer is taken to major truck shows, conferences and it is hoped the display will eventually be seen at events like the Super Bowl and country music concerts.
Garner Transportation Group will train its drivers through Truckers Against Trafficking. Truck drivers are “eyes and ears” so it makes sense for them to get this training, said Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, president of Garner Transportation Group.
In addition to the Freedom Drivers Project, Truckers Against Trafficking makes informational materials available to truckers, along with making sure they have the number of the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, which has a 24-hour hotline.
Along with training its drivers, Garner Trucking is placing window decals on the company’s trucks. In addition to ensuring that drivers have the toll-free number readily available, this may serve as a deterrent, since traffickers may think they cannot knock on that particular truck without being reported, Brumbaugh said.
She is reaching out to other northwestern Ohio trucking companies about the campaign.
The Zonta Club of Findlay is also involved in the fight against trafficking. Zonta International has adopted a campaign called “Zonta Says No” through 2016 and Zonta clubs all over the world are working to educate their communities about trafficking.
Maile Doyle, president of Zonta Club of Findlay, said research has shown that there’s a lot of trafficking in northwestern Ohio. Toledo is a large port with proximity to the Ohio Turnpike, Interstate 75, and easy access to large cities including Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and Cincinnati. Doyle said large events in these bigger cities, such as sporting events that have a mostly male audience, tend to be targets for traffickers.
Since the Toledo area is affected by trafficking it’s “vital” that northwestern Ohio truckers are educated and aware and know what to look for, Doyle said.
Brumbaugh and Doyle are encouraging the public to get involved. Zonta has a video about human trafficking available called “Chosen” which can be lent to youth groups and other organizations.
Brumbaugh said speaking out against trafficking is the right thing to do.
“It’s someone’s daughter,” she said.
The 11th annual International Human Trafficking, Prostitution and Sex Work Conference will be held Sept. 18 and 19 at the University of Toledo, and the Freedom Drivers Project trailer will be heading there after leaving Findlay.
Anyone suspecting they are witnessing human trafficking can call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline 24 hours a day at 888-373-7888.
Online: http://www.truckersagainsttrafficking.org/ http://humantrafficking.ohio.gov/ Arthurs: 419-427-8494 Send an E-mail to Sara Arthurs