USA: New c-store partnership to tackle human trafficking

A c-store association fighting against human trafficking partners with an online training company to expand its reach.

A partnership between Ready Training Online (RTO) and Convenience Stores Against Trafficking (CSAT) will provide online human trafficking awareness training called ‘Community Heroes: C-stores Stop Human Trafficking.’

Human trafficking is the second largest and fastest growing criminal enterprise in the United States and yet, so few people can recognize the signs or how to respond, according to the creators of the program.

The Community Heroes training helps employees understand the indicators of human trafficking and proper response protocols, using a brief video and printed reference cards for in-store use.

“We are deeply appreciative of RTO for joining forces with CSAT to make our training and materials accessible for the entire c-store industry! Now more clerks and managers can recognize and safely report human trafficking situations or suspicions,” declares program director Juliana Williams.

Another instrument used by the c-store industry is ‘Freedom Stickers,’ which are posted in convenience store restrooms as that is considered the safest place for a victim of human trafficking to call or text the hotline and arrange a safety plan.

“With public restrooms, longer hours of operation, and more than 150,000 locations that serve half the U.S. population every day, we know that c-stores are perfectly positioned to be a part of the solution and lives will be saved as a result of this training,” Williams maintains.

*Get the Community Heroes training here: http://readytrainingonline.com/human-trafficking-awareness/ and get CSAT Training kits, including Freedom Stickers, here: www.inourbackyard.org/csat-rto