January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month

SIKESTON — January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about this crime and educating others on how to stop it, and the Missouri Department of Transportation has joined the fight, promising to help identify and eradicate human trafficking.

In 2018, MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna signed the Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking pledge, collaborating with other transportation leaders across the country.

Through the pledge, MoDOT committed to providing employees with specialized training on how to identify common indicators of human trafficking and what to do if trafficking is suspected in Missouri.

“What we have made that training consist of is basically identifying what human trafficking even is and even more recently, we’ve gone into some materials that address some of the myths and stereotypes of what human trafficking isn’t,” said Heather Luebbert, the Commercial Motor Vehicle Program Manager for MoDOT. 

According to Luebbert, they also discuss how to identify it and, ultimately, what to do if they believe they are witnessing human trafficking. MoDOT provides this training to all of its employees throughout the state through a series of human trafficking training videos.

Some warning signs of a potential trafficking situation include physical abuse, tattoo branding, a lack of money or identification, body language indicating they don’t want to be there or appear uncomfortable, a lack of eye contact with anyone other than their trafficker and not being allowed to speak for themselves.

Luebbert also mentioned Missouri is a transportation hub for the United States, with large amounts of freight passing through the state’s highways every day. 

“Places like rest stops, gas stations, convenient stores and hotels can be spots for human trafficking,” Luebbert said “We particularly draw attention to those spots because those are industries that operate along our transportation system. And so we have a core interest in making sure we are all aware of the subject of human trafficking, how to spot it, and what to do.”

According to McKenna, the National Human Trafficking Hotline said there were 240 human trafficking cases reported in Missouri in 2021, with 327 victims. These figures increase to over 10,000 cases involving over 16,000 victims across the country.

“MoDOT staff are in a unique position to have an everyday presence on the state’s roadways. By arming our employees with the knowledge of what to look for and what actions to take, thousands of watchful eyes are added to the fight against human trafficking,” said McKenna. “We invite all Missourians to join us in taking action by learning the warning signs, and if you see something, say something by calling the national hotline.”

If anyone suspects any signs of trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or text BeFree (233733).