Atlanta airport training targets human trafficking
ATLANTA — Atlanta’s airport is part of a new national effort to raise awareness of human trafficking and try to stop it.
The program is enlisting airport and airline employees to spot potential victims, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport recently hosted a training session on human trafficking for airline and airport workers. It’s one of a series of training sessions, and part of a broader campaign at the world’s busiest airport.
A flight attendant sees an average of 2,000 people a month, said Nancy Rivard, president of Airline Ambassadors International. She said that puts flight attendants in a position to observe passenger behavior on a broad scale.
“Look for a victim that doesn’t appear to have a relationship with the person they’re with,” said Jan Lennon, Hartsfield-Jackson’s director of security. “Someone who is looking away, looking down.”
Though some suspicions may be incorrect or
based on false assumptions, Lennon said “even if you are not sure, call 911.”
Gail Cofield, a retired Delta flight attendant, went to the training with plans to share what she learns at churches in Fayetteville, where she lives.
“We want to hold conferences and seminars ourselves … just spread the word, because these kids are getting into a lot of trouble online,” Cofield said.
Flight attendant Donna Hubbard is a certified trainer with Airline Ambassadors International and said she was a victim of human trafficking. “Quite often it’s very subliminal, subtle coercion,” including threats, she said.
“It was sexual exploitation, it was carrying weapons, it was being a drug mule, whatever they wanted me to do,” Hubbard said. “I ended up going to prison to get my life back … So many of the victims are criminalized with the traffickers.”