Wyoming Highway Patrol Visits Truckstops to Hand Out Info on Truckers Against Trafficking [PHOTOS]

Officers at the Evanston port of entry recently visited local truck stops and businesses handing out information about Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT). This per a post on their social media.

TAT's goal is to acquire an army of transportation professionals to assist law enforcement in recognizing and reporting human trafficking, in order to aid in the recovery of victims and the arrest of their perpetrators.

According to the TAT website:

"Sex trafficking occurs at truck stops in the United States often in two forms, through  commercial sex and through fake massage businesses.

Due to their frequently remote locations and transient customer base, truck stops are an ideal venue for traffickers seeking to profit from exploiting victims without interference or undue attention.

Traffickers frequently move their victims from city to city, forcing victims to engage in commercial sex at truck stops along the way.

Brothels disguised as massage businesses are also sometimes present at or near truck stops. These networks control women through confinement and complicated debt bondage schemes."

"In sex trafficking situations at truck stops, traffickers compel women and/or children into engaging in commercial sex at truck stops. These traffickers may be individual traffickers or part of a larger trafficking network.

They may have prior relationships or connections with the victims or they may have been strangers who offered to help provide transportation to runaway youth.

Traffickers utilizing truck stops as a venue for commercial sex frequently move their victims from city to city, using the truck stops as an exclusive marketplace or as one of many venues to maximize their profits.

Traffickers in both commercial sex at truck stops and fake massage business situations target this venue due to the potential to profit from male truckers and travelers willing to pay for commercial sex, as well as to use the geographic isolation to their advantage."

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"Officers are getting the information out so drivers and other employees can be the eyes and ears for law enforcement to spot and help end human trafficking.

If you see something suspicious, call 911 or the Truckers Against Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888."