 | Domestic Trafficking Hotlines |
Overview
DOT is working with other U.S. Government agencies and with transportation stakeholders across the country on human trafficking initiatives.
How DOT is Helping
DOT Trains Employees on Human Trafficking Awareness
In 2012, DOT mandated that all 55,000 employees take human trafficking awareness training. By the end of calendar year 2012, nearly all DOT employees completed the training.
Cooperative Activities
In a partnership announced October 4, 2012, Amtrak will train it's 20,000 employees with training and awareness materials developed by DHS and DOT to help recognize and report human trafficking. This initiative is part of the Blue Campaign, which DHS launched in 2010 to combat human trafficking through:
- Enhanced public awareness
- Training
- Victim assistance
- Law enforcement investigations
Blue Lightning, a partnership between DOT and DHS, provides U.S. commercial airlines with a voluntary mechanism to identify potential human trafficking victims and to notify Federal authorities. The initiative includes:
- A computer-based training module and
- Printed materials on the indicators of potential human trafficking
- Methods for airline personnel to safely and anonymously alert federal law enforcement.
Interagency Human Trafficking Activities
DOT is a member of the President’s Interagency Task Force (PITF) and Senior Policy Operating Group (SPOG).
The President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking (PITF) is a Cabinet-level entity created by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) to coordinate federal efforts to combat trafficking in persons. The PITF is chaired by the Secretary of State.
The Senior Policy Operating Group (SPOG): The TVPA, as amended in 2003, also established the Senior Policy Operating Group (SPOG), which consists of senior officials designated as representatives of the PITF members. The SPOG coordinates:
- Interagency policy, grants and research
- Planning issues involving international trafficking in persons
- The implementation of the TVPA.
The SPOG is chaired by the Department of State.
Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking
In November 2012, the Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking partnership was launched. The partnership is an open membership group comprised of transportation and travel industry stakeholders, in order to maximize the transportation industry’s collective impact in combating human trafficking. The partnership identified five key focus areas:
- Industry leadership
- Industry training and education
- Policy development
- Public awareness
- Information sharing and analysis
The partnership created an online collaborative workspace where stakeholders can exchange ideas and best practices, measure the progress of the partnership, coordinate activities, share training programs and materials, and build on the momentum the partnership has created in the transportation sector.
Join the Effort!
Join Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking or learn more about it by emailing trafficking@dot.gov.
You will be contacted within a few days with additional information about the collaborative group.
Domestic Hotline Information
Human Trafficking is a crime involving the exploitation of someone for the purposes of compelled labor or a commercial sex act through the use of force, fraud, or coercion. Where a person younger than 18 is induced to perform a commercial sex act, it is a crime regardless of whether there is any force, fraud, or coercion. Victims can be anyone from around the world or right next door: women and men, adults and children, citizens and noncitizens alike.
-- IN AN EMERGENCY, PLEASE CALL 911 --
Call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-3737-888 to:
- GET HELP and connect with a service provider in your area;
- REPORT A TIP with information on potential human trafficking activity; or
- LEARN MORE by requesting training, technical assistance, or resources.
The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) is a national, toll-free hotline available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. The NHTRC is not a law enforcement or immigration authority and is operated by a nongovernmental organization funded by the Federal government.
Call federal law enforcement directly to report suspected human trafficking activity and get help:
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security at 1-866-347-2423 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year, or submit a tip online at www.ice.gov/tips. Individuals across the world can report suspicious criminal activity to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tip Line. The Tip Line is accessible internationally by calling 1-802-872-6199. Highly trained specialists take reports from both the public and law enforcement agencies on more than 400 laws enforced by ICE HSI, including those related to human trafficking.
- U.S. Department of Justice Trafficking in Persons and Worker Exploitation Task Force Complaint Line at 1-888-428-7581 (voice and TTY) from 9:00am to 5:00pm (EST). Individuals can report incidents of trafficking to this hotline. You may also submit a tip online to the FBI at https://tips.fbi.gov, or call your local FBI office (you can get their number at www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field/field-offices.
Call the following federal government lines for other assistance:
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-4USWAGE (1-866-487-9243) for cases where labor exploitation may be present but does not rise to the threshold of trafficking.
- U.S. Department of Labor OIG Hotline at 1-202-693-6999 or 1-800-347-3756, hotline@oig.dol.gov, or http://www.oig.dol.gov/hotlinemain.htm 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to report allegations of trafficking committed through fraud in DOL programs, including, but not limited to, the H-1B, H-2A, H-2B, and PERM. When filing an OIG Hotline complaint, it is not necessary to provide names or any other identifying information.
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) at 1-800-669-4000 from 7:00am to 8:00pm (EST ) for information about how workers, including trafficking victims, can file a charge of employment discrimination.
Report suspected child sexual exploitation to the CyberTipline:
- The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, at 1-800-THE-LOST or www.cybertipline.com, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Congressionally-authorized CyberTipline is operated by a nongovernmental organization and provides a means for reporting crimes against children and is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.