The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) special five-day Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative (HTAI) for the upcoming international men’s football/soccer competition begins today in Canada, Mexico and the U.S., which are CVSA’s three member countries and the locations for the competition.
Scheduled for June 1-5, this coordinated outreach effort brings together law enforcement agencies, transportation safety organizations, commercial motor vehicle drivers, trucking and motorcoach companies, and concerned citizens to raise awareness about the crime of human trafficking, the warning signs to look for and what to do if human trafficking is suspected.
As millions of fans, workers and visitors travel throughout North America for the international football/soccer competition, scheduled for June 11 to July 19, CVSA and its partners are emphasizing the importance of vigilance and awareness to help combat human trafficking during large-scale events. Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception for the purpose of exploitation. Human trafficking risks may increase during major international gatherings due to higher travel volume, increased demand for hospitality services and the potential exploitation of vulnerable individuals.
Throughout the initiative, participating jurisdictions and organizations will conduct outreach campaigns, distribute educational materials, provide training opportunities, share awareness messaging on social media, and engage directly with drivers and the traveling public. To support those efforts, CVSA offers free human trafficking awareness resources and online training to its law enforcement and industry partner members throughout North America.
If you suspect someone is in a human trafficking situation or you are the victim of human trafficking:
- In Canada, call 833-900-1010.
- In Mexico, call 800-5533-000.
- In the U.S., call 888-373-7888.
To find out what your jurisdiction is doing for human trafficking awareness, contact the agency/department responsible for overseeing commercial motor vehicle safety within your state, province or territory.
CVSA’s Human Trafficking Awareness Initiative is part of the Alliance’s broader Human Trafficking Prevention Program, which seeks to reduce human trafficking throughout North America through coordinated enforcement, investigation and education within the commercial motor vehicle industry.
CVSA is a nonprofit organizationcomposed of local, state, provincial, territorial and federal commercial motor vehicle safety officials and industry representatives. The Alliance aims to prevent commercial motor vehicle crashes, injuries and fatalities and believes that collaboration between government and industry improves road safety and saves lives.