Oakland Airport Training
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Airports An Important New Front Combating Human Trafficking. This TV story highlighted Superbowl preparations in Phoenix- June 19, 2014
Below: CBS – reports from Oakland Training:
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/04/15/airports-an-important-new-front-in-combating-human-trafficking/
April 15, 2014 7:52 PM
Speaking at a news conference at the Oakland International Airport, Betty Ann Boeving of the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition said airport personnel, airline workers and passengers need to be aware that human traffickers use airports to transport their victims around the world.
Boeving said cases have been documented in which traffickers have misrepresented themselves as sports coaches, employers, and family members of trafficked victims. She said airport personnel at ticket counters, gates and other areas of airport operations are in a unique position to identify potential victims and report potential incidents to law enforcement agencies, in order to rescue victims and bring traffickers to justice.
“Airline employees need to send a message to human traffickers that they’re not welcome to do business in the Bay Area,” Boeving said.The news conference was followed by a training session for airport staff to teach them how to recognize and address suspected human trafficking at the airport.
Similar training was conducted at the San Francisco airport in March 2012 and at the San Jose airport in January, Boeving said. Deborah Flint, the Oakland airport’s director of aviation, said, “Human trafficking is a global problem that needs local solutions. We can end human trafficking in our region if we know what to look for.”
U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, said human trafficking is “the fastest-growing criminal enterprise globally” and described it as “modern day slavery.”
U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, said, “Sex trafficking and human trafficking is big business in this country and region and it’s high time that we got serious about eradicating it.” Speier said the message that needs to be sent to airport workers and airline employees and passengers is, “If you see something, say something” to the appropriate authorities.Boeving said people who see something suspicious should call the trafficking hotline at 1-888-3737-888.
U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said that in addition to forcing people to engage in the sex trade, human traffickers force people to work in agriculture and other lines of work and also keep them in debt bondage.
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said the campaign to raise awareness at airports and on airplanes “is a tremendous asset in fighting human trafficking.” O’Malley said, “In our neighborhoods and our businesses we need to be the eyes and ears of law enforcement and humanity” in combating trafficking.
Boeving said, “People need to know what human trafficking victims look like at an airport.”She said possible clues are people who aren’t dressed appropriately, such as wearing warm weather clothes when traveling to a cold weather destination, and passengers who don’t know their destination.“Airline employees are essential” to helping fight human trafficking, Boeving said.
Bay Area airport workers learn how to identify human trafficking victims
www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_25570976/oakland-airport-staff-learns-how-identify-human-trafficking
By Malaika Fraley Oakland Tribune
OAKLAND — Workers at Oakland International Airport on Tuesday began training on how to spot victims of human trafficking as part of a regional effort to stamp out what’s become the world’s fastest-growing criminal enterprise.
Thousands of victims of sex and labor trafficking are shepherded through airports, but they are very rarely rescued there, said Betty Ann Boeving, executive director of the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition. Officials are sharing this message with airport workers across the board: If you see something, say something.
“The truth is that sex trafficking and human trafficking is big business right here in this country, right here in this region, and it’s high time that we all take notice of it and get serious about eradicating it,” said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, who along with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag and Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, is leading an ongoing effort to combat sex trafficking in the Bay Area.
Training airport workers to recognize the signs that a man, woman or child is a victim will save individuals from such modern-day slavery and deter traffickers who masquerade as sports coaches, employers and family members, officials say. Oakland is the last of the Bay Area’s major airports to have workers trained, after San Francisco and San Jose international airports.
“Today is a great day because … we have now circled the Bay in terms of training on sex trafficking, and make sure you appreciate that airports are magnets for sex trafficking,” Speier said. “Conventions, conferences are all ripe for increasing the actual activity that goes on.”
Retraining at Bay Area airports is planned before the 2016 Super Bowl at the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium as sex trafficking in any region is at its highest during major sports events, Boeving said.
Oakland, in particular, is known for having a sex trade problem that is being aggressively tackled by O’Malley and the Oakland Police Department. Criminal street gangs are increasingly using sex trafficking as a moneymaking enterprise because, unlike drugs, they can sell the same boy or girl over and over again, O’Malley said. The majority of sex trafficking victims are minors.
In the last five years, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted nearly 400 sex trafficking cases, accounting for almost 50 percent of such prosecutions in the entire state, O’Malley said.
“(Airports are) the No. 1 place we should try to intercept (victims) because they are outside of the hands of the trafficker often,” Boeving said. “These girls are sometimes put on a plane from Chicago to arrive in San Francisco, and so we are hoping that in transit is a place where someone could actually come to their rescue.”
Contact Malaika Fraley at 925-234-1684. Follow her at Twitter.com/malaikafraley.
Oakland airport workers trained to spot sex traffickers
http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Oakland-airport-workers-trained-to-spot-sex-5405005.php?cmpid=hp-hc-bayarea#photo-6170327 Henry K. Lee
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Congresswoman Jackie Speir addressed the crowd at the airport Tuesday April 15, 2014 in Oakland, Calif. Oakland International airport workers were given special training on spotting human traffickers and sexual exploiters of children. Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle | Buy this photo
The red flag might be the way the man makes a point of answering the ticket agent’s questions, so the teenage girl with him doesn’t have to talk.
Or the young boy doesn’t know where his flight is going, and appears to be under the control of the man who claims to be his coach.
Or the girl flying alone insists her boyfriend paid for her flight, though she has never met him in person, but only on Facebook.
These are scenarios that should raise the suspicions of airport workers who are uniquely positioned to help rescue victims of child sex trafficking, local, state and federal officials told a roomful of Oakland International Airport employees on Tuesday.
The workers, from blue-uniformed Transportation Security Administration agents and baggage handlers to restaurant workers and gate agents, were taught how to recognize potential victims and their abusers, who take advantage of the fact that minors can fly without identification.
They heard from Shamere McKenzie, 30, of Chicago, a former sex trafficking victim, who warned that abused children may deny being mistreated and are psychologically unable to escape their predators’ clutches. They won’t, she said, go running to the first TSA agent or officer they see at an airport.
Their abusers, in turn, regard them as “commodities, a product that can be bought and sold,” McKenzie said. She told the airport workers to close their eyes and picture their own children being forced to engage in sex acts. One woman, who appeared to dab at her eyes, got up and left.
Some 10 million people travel through the Oakland airport each year. Similar training was conducted at San Francisco International Airport in 2012 and at Mineta San Jose International Airport in January.
The employees were thanked by a host of leaders, including Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag and Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley.
“Modern-day slavery should never exist in the world, and especially here at the Oakland International Airport,” Lee said.
Speier noted that big conventions and sporting events like the Super Bowl boost demand in host cities for illicit sexual services.
“Airports are magnets for sex trafficking,” Speier said. “Keep your eyes open, and if you see something, say something.”
More warning signs: a child doesn’t make eye contact with anyone, an adult stares directly at a child, or a teen carries no personal items. In an extreme case, a trafficked child might have a bar code tattoo on her neck, signaling she is owned.
“It might be somebody who’s not dressed for the appropriate weather for the place they’re going to. They’re in shorts in the middle of the winter, flying to Chicago,” said Betty Ann Boeving, executive director of the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition.
Boeving said it’s better to be nosy and turn out to be wrong – a child could simply be uncomfortable about flying – than to let a potential victim of abuse elude rescue.
“We encourage anybody, if you see a situation that actually is uncomfortable to you, that you think about that person in the situation who is probably 10 times more uncomfortable, or more,” Boeving said.
Oakland airport workers learn how to identify human trafficking victims – Times-Herald
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_25576390/oakland-airport-workers-learn-how-identify-human-trafficking
By Malaika Fraley MediaNews Group/ Posted: 04/16/2014 12:58:21 AM PDT
OAKLAND — Workers at Oakland International Airport on Tuesday began training on how to spot victims of human trafficking as part of a regional effort to stamp out what’s become the world’s fastest-growing criminal enterprise.
Thousands of victims of sex and labor trafficking are shepherded through airports, but they are very rarely rescued there, said Betty Ann Boeving, executive director of the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition. Officials are sharing this message with airport workers across the board: If you see something, say something.
“The truth is that sex trafficking and human trafficking is big business right here in this country, right here in this region, and it’s high time that we all take notice of it and get serious about eradicating it,” said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, who along with Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag and Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, is leading an ongoing effort to combat sex trafficking in the Bay Area.
Training airport workers to recognize the signs that a man, woman or child is a victim will save individuals from such modern-day slavery and deter traffickers who masquerade as sports coaches, employers and family members, officials say. Oakland is the last of the Bay Area’s major airports to have workers trained, after San Francisco and San Jose international airports.
“Today is a great day because … we have now circled the Bay in terms of training on sex trafficking, and make sure you appreciate that airports are magnets for sex trafficking,” Speier said. “Conventions, conferences are all ripe for increasing the actual activity that goes on.”
Retraining at Bay Area airports is planned before the 2016 Super Bowl at the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi’s Stadium as sex trafficking in any region is at its highest during major sports events, Boeving said.
Oakland, in particular, is known for having a sex trade problem that is being aggressively tackled by O’Malley and the Oakland Police Department. Criminal street gangs are increasingly using sex trafficking as a moneymaking enterprise because, unlike drugs, they can sell the same boy or girl over and over again, O’Malley said. The majority of sex trafficking victims are minors.
In the last five years, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted nearly 400 sex trafficking cases, accounting for almost 50 percent of such prosecutions in the entire state, O’Malley said.
“(Airports are) the No. 1 place we should try to intercept (victims) because they are outside of the hands of the trafficker often,” Boeving said. “These girls are sometimes put on a plane from Chicago to arrive in San Francisco, and so we are hoping that in transit is a place where someone could actually come to their rescue.”
KTVU (noon, live) Anti-Human Trafficking Training at Oakland International
KGOTV http://mediacenter.tveyes.com/downloadgateway.aspx?UserID=92542&MDID=3066854&MDSeed=7868&Type=Media
KGO Radio – Human trafficking
Labor and Sex traffickers often smuggle their victims through airports. That’s why Oakland International Airport today lauchned a comprehensive training program for their workers. KGO’s Leslie Brinkley was there.
The FBI, Department of Homeland Security, heavy hitting politicians all underscored a disturbing trend. “Airports are magnets for sex traffickers,” Congresswoman Jackie Speier. “They bring their victims to conferences, conventions, it’s where they make their big bucks.” “What we are doing today is really training the airport workers to start to recognize signs of human trafficking.” Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley says they prosecuted 400 human traffickers in Oakland the last few years. US attorney Melinda Haag says this training already took place at San Francisco and San Jose airports. “so the flight attendants, pilots, baggage handlers see it, recognize it and think about reporting it.” In Oakland, I’m Leslie Brinkley, KGO 810.
Capitol Public Radio – Human Trafficking
A Bay Area Congresswoman told students at UC Berkeley yesterday that she will introduce federal legislation to strengthen laws to protect students in sexual assault on campuses. Congresswoman Jackie Speier said one ways to do that is to require universities to interview every student who has complained they’ve been assaulted.
KCBS – Human Trafficking
Oakland International has become the third major airport in the Bay Area to train its workers to identify victims of human trafficking. KCBS’ Margy Schafer reports from Oakland where dozens of workers learned the warning signs of this modern day slavery.
Among the workers at the Human Trafficking Awareness training was airline employee Isaac who learned that an estimated 200,000 children a year are victims of human trafficking. “It’s amazing. I was blown away by the actual number and that it happens here in the Bay Area.” Red flags include being unusually submissive to the person accompanying them and exhibiting signs of physical abuse. Tatum King with Homeland Security says many victims are transported on commercial aircraft. “DHS has a program called the Blue Campaign where we come out and work with our NGO partners like Airline Ambassadors or the Bay Area Anti Human Trafficking Coalition to get the information out.” Founder of the non-profit Airline Ambassadors Nancy Rivard shared a phone call she received just yesterday from a self-described victim of human trafficking. “All I’m trying to do is move to a different city and I’m having trouble with the people around me. I already had to call the police once.” While this man could speak for himself, many victims do not have the ability to speak out. At Oakland International, I’m Margy Schafer, KCBS.
Oakland Airport Training
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
What: Human Trafficking victims are entering the Bay Area through the region’s airports. This is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. YOU are in a unique position to help identify victims and report incidents to bring rescue. Why: This training will raise situational awareness by teaching both warning signals and approved methods of how to handle a suspected trafficking situation. Who: Airline Ambassadors and Bay Area Anti Trafficking Coalition are partnering to provide training on Human Trafficking awareness in the airline industry. Congresswomen Barbara Lee and Jackie Speier along with Alameda County D.A. Nancy O’Malley will be guest speakers at this event. The training coordinates with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign and has been reviewed by the U.S. Department of State, and U.S. Department of Transportation.
Please invite your colleagues! See below for Media Alert
Please share the information about this training opportunity with your colleagues and invite them to participate!
DIRECTIONS TO TERMINAL 1, GATE 1 HOLD ROOM:
Enter Terminal Oakland International Airport, Terminal 1 and proceed up the ramp (toward TSA screening)
As you approach the TSA Screening Checkpoint, keep right. Entrance to training room is just to the right of the TSA checkpoint exit lane and will be marked with signage
MEDIA ALERT Date: April 9th, 2014
Media contact: Nancy Rivard angels@airlineamb.org (650) 489-5322
CONGRESSWOMEN SPEIER AND LEE, AND D.A. O’MALLEY TO KICK OFF OAKLAND AIRPORT HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS TRAINING
UPCOMING TRAINING: Oakland Airport International Airport Personnel with Congresswomen Jackie Speier and Barbara Lee, Alameda D.A. Nancy O’Malley, and ICE: Homeland Security Investigations
Training Date/Time: Tuesday, April 15th from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
MEDIA: 10-10:30 a.m.; media is welcome for the full training
Location: Terminal 1 Gate 1 Hold Room, Oakland International Airport
TRAINING HOSTS: Airline Ambassadors International & Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition
Springtime and warmer weather increases travel to California and human traffickers are sending adults and children to the State for exploitative work through our region’s three busiest airports. The United States and the State of California have laws to protect victims and penalize perpetrators of human trafficking, which is commonly defined as people profiting from the exploitation of others, controlling them by force, fraud, or coercion.
Since minors currently are not required to carry identification in order to travel by airplanes entering and exiting U.S. airports, traffickers have been trying to use this to their advantage. Cases have been documented in which traffickers have misrepresented themselves as sports coaches, employers and family members of trafficked victims. Airport personnel at ticket counters, gates and other areas of airport operations are in a unique position to be able to identify potential victims and report potential incidents to law enforcement agencies in order to rescue victims and bring traffickers to justice.
Airline Ambassadors International (AAI) is partnering with the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition (BAATC) to conduct a 90-minute training with Oakland Airport personnel on Tuesday, April 15th, 2014. During this training, airport employees will learn the warning signs to look and listen for to identify victims and perpetrators of human trafficking.
AAI and BAATC completed a training of Mineta San Jose International Airport on January 23rd, 2014 with Congressman Mike Honda. San Francisco International Airport held a similar training in March 2012 in conjunction with Congresswoman Speier.
ALL AIR TRANSPORTATION PERSONNEL ARE INVITED TO ATTEND FROM 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
MEDIA ARE WELCOME FROM 10 a.m.-10:30 a.m. and for the full training
RSVP: angels@airlineamb.org
“I commend the Oakland Airport and its partners for coordinating this important training to combat sex trafficking, a heinous crime,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee. “It is our duty to protect the voiceless men, women and children who are trafficked at an alarming rate in the United States and abroad. By educating airport personnel on key warning signs of sex trafficking, airport workers will be empowered to identify victims, and coordinate their rescue with local law enforcement, thus preventing this form of modern-day slavery.” Congresswoman Barbara Lee
“Human trafficking is modern day slavery and absolutely intolerable,” Speier said. “Trained airline and airport workers at all three major airports in the Bay Area will make it much more difficult for traffickers to bring their victims here. Our message to them is clear: the Bay Area does not tolerate the sale of human beings.“ Congresswoman Jackie Speier
“Human trafficking, by its very nature, is a crime that crosses regional, national and international borders. Training airport personnel to recognize human trafficking and to take action is vital to our joint efforts to combat this form of modern day slavery,” states DA O’Malley. “I applaud the leadership of Congresswomen Speier and Lee, as well as airport and airline officials in this effort. We must all work together to rescue trafficking victims and bring the offenders to justice.” Nancy O’Malley, Alameda County District Attorney
“Increased awareness and education at Oakland Airport cuts off this entry/exit point for traffickers. The U.S. State Dept. has determined that transportation professionals are among the best-placed to identify trafficking situations.” Nancy Rivard, President, Airline Ambassadors
“Airport personnel are our first line of defense. With an increase in human trafficking through the Bay Area and other U.S. airports, we are being proactive. The threat of human trafficking tends to be heightened around major sports and entertainment events. With the Super Bowl coming to Santa Clara in 2016, we want to act now to offset that threat. Betty Ann Boeving, Exec. Director, BAATC
AAI at Congressional Hearing
Monday, January 20, 2014
SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING NOTICE
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
WASHINGTON, DC 20515-6128
Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations
Christopher H. Smith (R-NJ), Chairman
January 27, 2014
TO: MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS
You are respectfully requested to attend an OPEN hearing of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, to be held by the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations in Room 2172 of the Rayburn House Office Building (and available live on the Committee website at www.foreignaffairs.house.gov):
DATE: Monday, January 27, 2014
TIME: 2:00 p.m.
SUBJECT: Lessons Learned from Super Bowl Preparations:
Preventing International Human Trafficking at Major Sporting Events
Diane Sawyer features Hearing and mentions our training Jan 29, 2014 on National News HERE
Live Feed HERE
January 27, 2014
Nancy L Rivard, President, Airline Ambassadors
Testimony to Committee on Foreign Affairs
Lessons Learned from Super Bowl Preparations
Preventing International Human Trafficking at Major Sporting Events
It is documented that human trafficking activity increases around major sporting events and traffickers move their victims to these cities via all forms of transportation, including airlines.
Airline Ambassadors was established in 1996 as the only independent charity of the airline industry. We have been on the forefront of raising awareness on this issue since correctly identifying human trafficking on four different airlines in 2009. One of these cases led to the bust of a trafficking ring in Boston, involving 82 children.
After researching the issue, we learned the U.S. signed the Palermo Protocol in 2000 agreeing to stop the use of commercial airlines as transport for trafficking offenses and were appalled to learn that no action had been implemented.
As flight attendants, we knew that airlines have infrastructure to provide training at virtually no additional cost during annual emergency procedure training for flight crew; and effective protocol could be established for ground personnel to receive calls from pilots regarding potential trafficking.
We solicited Congressman Smith to provide a Briefing to Airlines in 2010, and as a result American Airlines issued a Bulletin to flight personnel and later incorporated this into crew manuals.
We worked closely with Homeland Security and Customs Border Protection to develop an industry specific training consistent with the Blue Campaign – Blue Lightening protocol. We have provided complimentary training’s 20 times; starting in 2011 before the SuperBowl in Dallas, up to last week at Mineta San Jose International Airport, with Congressman Honda, as part of an effort to raise awareness in the Bay Area before SuperBowl 2016 in Santa Clara.
The DHS established protocol trains airline crew to pay attention to passengers boarding fights, be alert for children and who they are traveling with, as well as young people traveling alone, or anyone appearing nervous or unsure of their destination.
Flight attendants are taught to interact with passengers in a friendly, non-threatening manner, giving them opportunities to gather information, vastly increasing intelligence regarding potential trafficking situations. We train crew to be alert for indicators; but never to try and rescue a victim or display unusual concern or alarm. If uncomfortable, they are to report it to the cockpit with seat numbers of passengers involved. Pilots are to call Station Operation Command at the arrival airport, and in turn they call the DHS “Tip” Line to alert law enforcement for proper assessment.
Although positive momentum has begun with several airlines adopting the DHS Blue Lightening computer based training, the truth is that major airlines are still not adequately training staff by emphasizing this in classroom training or establishing procedures for ground personnel.
The typical flight attendant glosses through on line trainings as fast as they can, and very little of the information covered is retained, unless emphasized by classroom instruction.
When I attended emergency procedure training in June 2013, there was one slide out of several hundred on this protocol in the on-line portion, and it was not mentioned in the classroom. Afterwards our team visited Station Operation Command Center where flights all over the world were being monitored. We asked the supervisor, what he would do if a pilot reported a potential human trafficking situation and he said “I would take no action, this situation is not a threat to aircraft security and therefore not in my realm of responsibility.”
This has to change. For the protocol to be effective; all employees must be aware of it and all employees must be trained. They must understand that human slavery is a reality and that their action or inaction, can save a life.
American Airlines has begun including a scenario in the classroom training for new hire flight attendants and this is a move in the right direction. Silver Airlines uses both the DHS computer training as well as the Airline Ambassadors training in the classroom. They have told us that the classroom training is more profound and touching, therefore more effective.
Flight Attendants carry flashlights as part of their uniform requirement and we produced flashlight cards and wallet cards with key indicators and the TIP Line number for easy access which we will gladly make available to all U.S. based airlines. We will also continue providing Awareness Trainings at major airports as a public service. Our next training in Phoenix, home of SuperBowl 2015, with Innocents at Risk, has over 120 flight attendants committed, from AA, Alaska, Delta, Frontier, United, Southwest, USAIR, who are spending their own time and money to attend. Flight crew are hungry for knowledge and want to be a front line of defense in this horrific crime.
Airline Ambassadors also hosted a meeting in late 2013 with every major flight attendant and pilot union, representing over 100,000 flight personnel, and received huge support on this issue. In the words of Laura Glading, President of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants:
“We are committed not only to preparing our membership to recognize and report suspected instances of human trafficking, but also to raise public awareness of the problem. Flight attendants have thwarted these criminals in the past, but putting an end to human trafficking will require a coordinated and sustained effort as well the commitment of the entire transportation industry.”
WITNESSES:
Panel I
Ms. Maria M. Odom
Chair
Blue Campaign
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
–
Panel II
Ms. Polly Hanson
Chief of Police
National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK)
–
Ms. Nancy Rivard
President and Founder
Airline Ambassadors International
–
Ms. Carol Smolenski
Executive Director
End Child Prostitution and Trafficking-USA
–
Ms. Letty Ashworth General Manager of Global Diversity Delta Airlines
UN – Human Trafficking
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS TO ERADICATE HUMAN TRAFFICKING
took place on Friday, November 9, 2018 – United Nations
Airline Ambassadors was honored to participate in this event on eradicating Human Trafficking. Our star trainer, Donna Hubbard – received a standing ovation!
Opening remarks were made by E. Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Apostolic Nuncio & Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and Clarissa Gingrich, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See. Deborah O’Hara Rusckowski, delegate for the Sovereign Order of Malta Mission to the UN moderated the excellent event. Nancy Rivard, President of AAI also participated sharing progress made by the aviation industry in the fight against human trafficking. 
Remarks also by
- E. Michel Veuthey, Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
- E. Geraldine Byrne Nason, Permanent Representative of the Mission of Ireland to the UN
- E. Martin Garcia Moritan, Permanent Representative of the Mission of Argentina to the UN
- E. Christian Wenaweser, Permanent Representative of the Mission of Liechtenstein to the UN
- Simone Monasebian, Director of Office of Drugs & Crime, UNODC
- Kevin Hyland, Chief Executive of ChildFund, Ireland and member of the Vatican’s Santa Marta Group
- Vinicius Pinheiro, Special Representative to the UN and Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO)
- Cindy McCain, Chair, McCain Institute for International Leadership
- Donna Hubbard, Women at the Well Transition Center, Airline Ambassadors Trainer
- Nancy Rivard, Airline Ambassadors – report on efforts in aviation industry
- Cathy Miller, RN, PHD – report on efforts in health care sector
- Angel Menendez – DHS – ICE -report on efforts in law enforcement
Co-sponsored by the Permanent Missions of Lebanon and Ireland
and the Permanent Observer Missions of the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta to the UN
UN Web TV LIVE http://www.un.org/webcast/schedule/latest.html
The goal of the meeting was to Form a “anti-human trafficking worldwide group”, whose synergy more successfully impacts the areas of fighting all forms of human trafficking–sexual exploitation, forced labor and organ harvesting for working towards a common goal. Through the various talents, skill sets, and contacts, a multi-level effort will simultaneously work from the bottom up and the top down to ultimately change attitudes & behavior to recognize the crime and take action. Need to gain support and involvement to strengthen, raise the level and ‘professionalize’ our responses to eradicating human trafficking.
STRATEGY: To drive delivery to ending human trafficking and modern slavery:
Through a focus driven initiative of a multi-disciplinary team:
- Governmental Agencies – Homeland Security, Criminal Justice, Law Enforcement
- Private Sector – Business, Airline Industry, Sports Industry, Hospitality Industry
- Healthcare Sector
- Education/Academia Sector
- Non-Government Agencies
- Faith Groups
- UN Agencies
Nancy’s remarks on Airline Industry Response:
“The airline industry has taken substantial steps to combat human trafficking – but more is needed.
Because of our efforts and support of the flight attendant unions the FAA Re authorization Act of 2016 was passed in the U.S, mandating training on human trafficking for all flight attendants.
Earlier this year the International Civil Aviation Authority issued Circular 352 recommending training of flight crew at all global airlines, and the International Air Transport Association joined forces launching the Eyes Wide Open Campaign,
In the US Delta airlines stands out as lead, the first airline to sign the ECPAT Code in 2013. However more than basic on-line training is needed and Airline Ambassadors is working with the Department of Transportation to encourage all airlines to have training staff cover this in live annual recurrent training of flight attendants and pilots. American Airlines has been supportive of our efforts, (also signing the ECPAT Code in 2017) and hired two trafficking survivors.
However we sent a letter to all airline CEO’s in March 2017 (in support of Sustainable Development Goal 8.7) and not one US airline CEO responded to our request to add a clause their human trafficking policies to be willing to train and hire trafficking survivors. We need your support and public pressure on this issue.
Globally, Air Asia, Sky Regional, Air Emirates and Qatar Airlines have made a commitment to train, but despite some effort by Aer Lingus, Copa and Al Nippon, most global airlines have done nothing and need to take action on this issue.
Airline Ambassadors continues to raise public awareness and we have provided 75 Airport training’s so far with our teams of aviation professionals and survivors training over 7000 front line professionals.
We are proud of our star trainer Donna Hubbard who has become a leading voice in the industry and together we are looking forward to partnering with Hartsfield Jackson International Airport and the NFL to provide training before the SuperBowl on January 29, 2019.”
Bravo to Donna Hubbard who has overcome inner and outer hurdles to become an inspiration to all and a key voice increasing awareness of human trafficking!
