Welcome to Driving Freedom, a TAT Podcast! As TAT works to educate, equip, empower and mobilize members of the truck, bus and energy industries to combat human trafficking as part of their regular jobs, we wanted to create a podcast that would serve as a helpful training tool to one of the largest mobile armies of eyes and ears out there on the roads seeking to recognize and report this heinous crime. Each short episode is designed to refresh critical issues learned and keep this life-saving information top of mind.

Are you looking for tips on how you can help stop trafficking? Welcome to our first episode of the Driving Freedom Podcast! On this episode, Annika Huff, Truckers Against Trafficking's training specialist,  shares her story as a sex trafficking survivor. Annika shares what vulnerabilities in her life led to her trafficking, some of the manipulation techniques her traffickers used to keep her stuck in the life and what interactions made a difference in her escape from the life. Truck drivers and community members will learn the importance of taking a victim-centered approach once they recognize the signs of human trafficking and how to report it, so they can prevent human trafficking.

Resources: 

www.truckersagainsttrafficking.org
TAT training video and additional resources

Why does trafficking exist? Our guest, Alan Smyth, executive director of Saving Innocence, a Los Angeles-based non-profit that serves, empowers, and advocates for child victims of sex trafficking, dives into the cultural expectations that foster trafficking and addresses the action steps we can each take to be a part of reducing demand. Alan shares his experiences as a dad raising a son, wrestling with how to express and talk about masculinity. He shares how those types of conversations impact human trafficking. Ultimately, truck drivers, bus drivers, energy employees and community members can address this at three levels -- in ourselves, conversations between family and friends, as well as education at a broader level, including corporate policies. Alan asks, “How can men become a big part of ending trafficking? Live a life that honors, serves and protects women and call other men into that.” 

Resources: 

Saving Innocence
Man to Man by Truckers Against Trafficking