Airline’s Involvement in Prevention of Human Trafficking
Human trafficking has been for long a menace to the entire globe; however, airlines are beefing up their efforts in helping to eradicate this vice. Various associations have cropped up in support of this initiative and are offering pieces of training as well as educational material to enlighten people more on spotting such instances. This is directed mostly towards those people who are in the aviation industry. For the crew members, the training is supposed to learn how to act as eyes and ears to spot and report suspected cases. Interestingly, human trafficking is the fastest-growing criminal industry and the second-largest after drug trade. Therefore, there is a massive push for the aviation industry to take part in preventing this from taking place and reducing its impact on society. Many airlines have already launched anti-human trafficking initiatives to help combat this issue. This is a great move since in the past, the aviation industry wasn’t compliant to the efforts that the authorities were implementing.
Majority of human trafficking cases involve crossing international borders and this means that most people interact with people from the aviation industry. In new guidelines that are supposed to be utilized by those in the aviation industry, there is a checklist on how to easily identify suspected cases and handle the victims upon landing. The cabin crew in the aviation industry are in a unique position as they travel with the passengers for a very long time. This way, they can easily spot the slightest signals and behaviors from those that they suspect. The training also involves coordination efforts with the airport and law enforcement agencies such as border and customs agents. Human trafficking in the aviation industry is a well-known factor; however, without training, those who are part of the industry cannot know how to handle the situation. Therefore, the training that is being offered through various platforms, which in some cases is mandatory is offering great help in making sure that there is a massive reduction in this criminal activity.
There are very many people that are victims of modern slavery, and they end up entering into prostitution, child soldiers, organ removal, and even forced marriage. Therefore, without the essential assistance from the international community and even the aviation industry, such a problem will continue to happen and worsen. Most of these training for airline staff is intended to instill the desired intuition across the entire aviation industry. There are very many programs out there, and many are volunteering to make an effort successful.
It is an obvious fact that to be able to spot any incidence of human trafficking, you must have the capability of recognizing the tell-tale sign. Such signs to look out for include things like few personal possessions, lack of knowledge of whereabouts and many others. There is an excellent chance that the person being trafficked is going to exhibit such signs; however, is it worth speculating? With the training efforts that are underway, people in the aviation industry can know who to utilize these signs to their advantage and present trafficking from occurring one step at a time.