Last week Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt discussed a partnership with the Kansas Motor Carriers Association and Truckers Against Trafficking to fight sex trafficking in Kansas and to support victims of the practice, reports The Garden City Telegram.
The KMCA and Truckers Against Trafficking will join state authorities in monitoring Kansas highways, especially in areas where sex trafficking is believed to occurs. The attorney general’s office has grown increasingly successful at stopping the crime, even as the scourge of sex trafficking spreads. In 2009, the state helped two sex trafficking victims. Last year that number climbed to more than 400.
Police and troopers rely on truckers to keep an eye out for trafficking as they haul their loads across the country. The relationship between the groups is often strong.
Red flags to spot a trafficking victim include:
• Tattoos, called “branding,” on the victim’s neck or back to mark who he or she belongs to.
• Victim looks fearful and hangs head.
• Victim is unable to identify where he or she is.
If you think you have spotted a trafficking victim, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at (888) 373-7888 to report it.