3 ways businesses can fight sex trafficking

A few years ago,

I got a call from the highest ranking
legal official in the state of Georgia:

the attorney general.

That moment was a wake-up call.

It was 2013, and the city of Atlanta

was hosting the Final Four
basketball tournament.

The AG called to ask

if the company that I worked for
could help sponsor billboards

that would be put up around the city

as part of an anti-human
trafficking campaign.

He said this was important
because sex trafficking spikes

with big sporting events
and with conventions.

And the billboards would help
to raise awareness.

Now, if I'm being honest with you,

my first inclination
was to politely decline.

(Laughter)

Let's face it --

there are thousands of things that
corporate America could get involved in.

Sex trafficking seemed a little messy.

Little bit too difficult,

something that is better left
for someone else.

But then I started to understand and learn
how big the problem really is.

And that it's rampant
in my company's home town.

I lived and worked in Atlanta for years,

I practice law here.

And yet, I had no idea
that the birthplace of my children

is among the most prevalent cities
for sex trafficking in the US.

At last report,
Atlanta's illegal sex trade

had generated up to
290 million dollars a year.

That's more money that the city's
illegal gun and drug trade combined.

So we stepped up
and we helped with the billboards.

But I couldn't help feeling
like it wasn't enough.

The parent in me, the mother in me
needed to do more.

I started talking to people about this,

and inevitably, I was surprised,
because the conversation would turn from

curiosity: "Really? This happens here?"

To empathy: "Wow, we've got
to do something about that."

To blame: "You're not telling me that
every prostitute is a victim, are you?

I mean, don't they know
what they're getting into?"

I get it, I understand
why people are confused.

So, to be clear, the people
that I'm talking about

do not choose this life.

They're forced, defrauded or coerced.

That's actually the legal definition

for human trafficking
under federal law, for adults.

Now, when it comes to kids,

any minor under 18 that's transported,

facilitated or used for commercial sex,

is automatically a victim.

Regardless ow whether force, fraud
or coercion is used.

This crime knows no age, gender,
or socioeconomic barrier.

I'm talking about the 16-year-old girl
that I met in Washington, DC.

She had been trafficked
from the time she was 14 until she was 16.

She was a victim
of the foster care system.

And she told me she'd been sold
up to five times a day.

She didn't even know the term
human trafficking,

she thought that it was just a part
of her life as a foster care kid.

Sex trafficking also shows up
in affluent areas and gated communities.

And men lure young girls
into sex trafficking situations

with promises of modeling
contracts, cell phones,

sometimes they're just kidnapped
right off the street.

In the US, an estimated
200,000 to 300,000 girls and boys

are anticipated to be used
for commercial sex trafficking every year.

You heard that right -- girls and boys.

Worldwide, the International
Labor Organization

estimates that up to
one million children a year

are vulnerable for sex trafficking.

Those numbers are huge.

And so while the billboards are great
for raising awareness generally,

they're just not enough
to put an end to this problem.

I believe that if we're going to be
serious about sex trafficking,

we can't legislate or arrest our way
out of modern-day slavery.

If we really want to end
sex trafficking in the US,

we have to systematically educate
and target demand.

And I think the business community
is in the perfect position

to do just that.

So, sex trafficking is big business.

And I'm proposing a business plan
that starts with the customer.

And in the sex trade, the customer
is referred to as a John.

He is the man that fuels the demand
for sex trafficking.

Johns do not fit into neat stereotypes.

But there is one universal truth:

no John, no buyer, no victim.

So if we want to start to put a dent
in sex trafficking,

we have to get to John.

And businesses can do that
while he's at work.

There's an organization called Businesses
Ending Slavery and Trafficking,

or BEST for short.

And when they launched in 2012,

they did a study of Seattle-based Johns.

And you know what they found out?

Johns are everyday guys,
employed at local businesses.

They range in age from 18 to 84.

Johns are dads.

Johns have admitted that they buy sex
when they are traveling for business,

when they're going to sporting events

or when they're in the military.

But here's the kicker.

BEST study determined
that web-based sex buying

spikes at 2 pm in the afternoon.

Which means that these Johns are likely
buying sex in the middle of the workday.

I believe that there is a way to stop
Johns in the middle of the workday

from buying sex.

And businesses can do it
in three simple ways.

The first is with a policy.

A policy that clearly says,

the company prohibits
sex-buying during work,

with company resources or on company time.

That's right.

I'm saying that your handbook
has to specifically give an example

that says no sex-buying
while you're traveling

at the international trade show,
because that's where it's happening.

Now, a policy is only as good
as its enforcement and its communication.

Several studies have indicated from Johns
that the best way to deter them

is public humiliation and embarrassment.

So, businesses who catch Johns buying sex,

using company-based equipment
or company resources,

but cut them a break
or sweep it under the rug

and don't fire them,

are complicit in fueling demand.

Now, a policy is one
of the best ways to start.

The second way is educating the workforce.

Businesses can go a long way
in simply training their workforce

about the signs and the red flags
of human trafficking.

This was my aha moment for how
our company could make a big difference.

Our nation's highways,
airports and truck stops

are literally used
as modern-day slave routes.

Our company has more than 100,000 drivers

all over the country, all over the world.

And so it made perfect sense to train them
to see the red flags.

Now, we don't want them jumping out there
and doing things on their own,

so we want them to call
a phone number, the hotline,

and let law enforcement intervene.

So to do this, we teamed up

with an organization called
Truckers Against Trafficking.

This Colorado-based organization
had web-based support and materials

that we gave to our truck divers

that gave them exactly what they needed
to spot the red flags.

Like, hearing CB chatter on their radios
about girls at nearby exits.

Or, seeing underaged women
emerging from vehicles

in the truck stop parking lots.

When we rolled out this training,

a few brave drivers admitted
they had seen these women,

knocking on the cabs in the truck stops,
looking for customers.

Now, they said that they weren't buying.

But they also didn't know
enough to make a call.

And that's what we want them to do.

TAT's organization -- Truckers
Against Trafficking --

Also emphasizes the need for men
to talk to other men

about web-based sex buying
and not buying commercial sex.

They feature men in uniform,
proudly proclaiming why they don't buy.

If we're going to see
a cultural shift in this atrocity,

we need men talking to other men

about the underlying issues
fueling demand.

Because sometimes, Johns don't even know

that they're purchasing girls
who are enslaved.

Which brings me to my final way
that businesses can help.

Every business has a special resource

or a secret sauce or resource
that they can bring

to fight human trafficking.

For example, Visa, Master Card
and American Express

refuse to process transactions
from backpage.com,

an online sex site
that sold commercial sex

to the tune of nine
million dollars a month.

In April of 2018, backpage.com
and affiliated websites were shut down

and the FBI seized all their assets.

Hiring survivors is another way
that any company can help.

Randstad, an organization
that works with companies

to find survivors who need good jobs,

has an excellent program,
called Hire Hope.

We've used this program,
we know that it works.

In addition to training
their flight attendants

and their airline crew,

Delta Air Lines also offers SkyMiles,
through a program called [Make-A-Wish],

to survivors to help them
escape their traffickers,

and reunite with their families.

There are thousands of things
that businesses can do.

They just have to decide
what to do to join the fight.

No one can justify slavery today.

But I believe it remains one of
the greatest civil rights atrocities

of our time.

Fortunately, the business community
is uniquely positioned

to help train their employees,

to enforce policies,

and to help use their special resources

to fight human trafficking.

And what about you?

What if you decided
to learn the red flags?

What if you decided to look
at the signs that are all around you,

and make a call?

There is no penalty
for calling law enforcement

when you see something
that doesn't sit right.

Together, we can all protect our children,

we can educate the workforces around us

and improve society.

Where we all live and work with John.

Thank you.

(Applause)