Human Trafficking Awareness Training for Professional Tour Directors at ITMI Symposium Attendees Finance Safe House for Orphans in Haiti

http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/3/prweb9340924.htm

Source: PRWeb

Airline Ambassadors International (AAI) conducted the first-ever human trafficking awareness training for professional tour directors and guides at the International Tour Management Institute (ITMI) Symposium in Sacramento, California in January.

Nancy Rivard

“Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery, predators profit from the control and exploitation of others,” says Nancy Rivard, founder and president of Airline Ambassadors International.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) March 28, 2012

March 28, 2012 – Airline Ambassadors International (AAI) conducted the first-ever human trafficking awareness training for professional tour directors and guides at the International Tour Management Institute (ITMI) Symposium in Sacramento, California in January.

“Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery, predators profit from the control and exploitation of others,” says Nancy Rivard, founder and president of Airline Ambassadors International. “Victims are kept powerless, especially when being moved from country to country where they don’t speak the language.”

“When Nancy Rivard told Symposium participants that millions of women and children are abducted and sold into slavery each year, she touched the hearts of everyone in the room,” notes Ted Bravos, CEO of ITMI. “The children who were orphaned by the earthquake in Haiti are easy targets for human traffickers, AAI is now building safe houses for these orphans. ITMI together with the tour directors in attendance raised enough money to build one safe house, which will be dedicated in Haiti in April.”

Human trafficking is the fastest growing business in the world and the most important human rights issue of our time. AAI is the only international aid and development organization to leverage the capabilities and expertise of the airline industry and to teach travel and tourism professionals how to recognize and report human trafficking.

“ITMI is proud to be working closely with AAI, to provide tourism industry professionals with the tools to recognize suspicious behavior and report it to the Transportation Security Administration or other law enforcement authorities,” Ted Bravos added.

About ITMI:
Since 1976 ITMI has been the premier training and certification institute for travel and tourism professionals. For more information about ITMI contact Annemarie Osborne (415) 957-9489 or Annemarie.osborne@gmail.com or visit: http://www.itmisf.com.

About Airline Ambassadors International:
Airline Ambassadors International (AAI) is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization affiliated with the United Nations and recognized by the U.S. Congress. For more information about AAI, contact Nancy Rivard 415-359-8006 or nancy@airlineamb.org or visithttp://www.airlineamb.org.

stemming the tide of human trafficking on commercial airlines Human Trafficking Awareness Training at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport - eTurboNews.com

http://www.eturbonews.com/28519/human-trafficking-awareness-training-ronald-reagan-washington-na

eTurboNews.com

Mar 27, 2012

Photo from airlineamb.org

WASHINGTON, DC – Airline Ambassadors International (AAI) announced that Congressman Joe Pitts (PA), as well as David Palmatier, Unit Chief of Homeland Security TIP line; Laurel Smith, Director of Communications, Customs Border Protection; Fernando Garcia, Coordinator, Anti Trafficking in Persons for the Organization of American States; and many others will join AAI to provide training for airport personnel to stem the tide of human trafficking on commercial airlines.

The training will take place at the Ronald Reagan National Airport Terminal A, Conference Room M120 (directly across from the lobby ) at 3:00 pm-4:30 pm and is open to all airport/airline employees. Congressman Pitts, said: “Airline Ambassadors is a great organization doing good work to train airline personnel about the signs of trafficking. In the past, I’ve been pleased to host the group on Capitol Hill for a briefing with international diplomats. Educating and empowering flight attendants and pilots is an incredibly effective way to fight trafficking.”

Human trafficking is the fastest-growing business in the world and the most important human rights issue of our time. Every year, millions of women and children are sold into slavery.

Nancy Rivard, Founder and President of AAI, said: “Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery where predators profit from the control and exploitation of others. Victims are kept powerless, especially when being moved from country to country where they don’t speak the language. Traffickers often use the speed and convenience of commercial aircraft.”

The AAI's Human Trafficking Awareness Trainings provide common indicators of possible victims and how to play a role in stopping human trafficking on commercial flights.

Congressman Pitts, law enforcement, and government leaders will join airport executives and employees of every airline on the first free training to the airline/airport community on March 29, 2012. For more information or to RSVP, email angels@airlineamb.org .

About Airline Ambassadors International:
Airline Ambassadors International (AAI) is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization founded by airline employees, affiliated with the United Nations, and recognized by the US Congress. Members provide international relief and development to under-privileged communities worldwide. As the only non-governmental organization of the airline industry, AAI has hand delivered more than US$60 million worth of humanitarian aid and provided escorts and medical care to children in 51 countries. To complement their efforts AAI is also building Safe houses for trafficked victims at seven locations in Haiti.

PHOTO (L to R): AAI Trainers - Nancy Rivard, Founder, Airline Ambassadors Int'l.; Sandy Dhuyvetter, Executive Producer and Host of TravelTalkRADIO and BusinessTravelRADIO and AAI Board Member; Deborah Quigley, AAI member and airline industry expert; and Petra Hensley, Trafficking Survivor and president of the Sojka Foundation

Source: airlineamb.org

• AIRLINE AMBASSADORS INTERNATIONAL
 
• BUSINESSTRAVEL
 
• COMMERCIAL AIRLINES
 
• HUMAN TRAFFICKING
 
• HUMAN TRAFFICKING TRAINING
 
• RONALD REAGAN WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT
 
• USA & CANADA

Human trafficking: Corporate America enlists in the global fight - CSMonitor.com

Travel companies, airlines, and other parts of corporate America are starting to provide training programs to help employees recognize human trafficking. Will heightened awareness help detect more trafficking cases?

• 

An Airline Ambassadors International poster raises awareness on the issue of human trafficking, which enslaves up to 27 million adults and children worldwide.

Courtesy of Airline Ambassadors International

By David Karas, Contributor / July 13, 2011 Washington

Patty McPeak had no inkling that her new training on how to spot human trafficking would be put to use so quickly.

Traveling from the Dominican Republic back to the United States after a humanitarian mission, Ms. McPeak was in the airport boarding area when a man and a little girl sitting nearby drew her attention. The man seemed to know little about his young companion, according to testimony McPeak submitted to Congress last July, and he became nervous as she struck up a conversation and asked questions.

The girl, who was about 4, started to speak, but the man whisked her off to the restroom. When they returned, the child appeared unconscious. McPeak, suspecting she had been drugged, alerted flight personnel. Authorities later confirmed that the man had been apprehended for human trafficking.

That incident, from October 2009, was one of the first fruits of a nascent effort to train people in the private sector – especially employees of airlines and hotels – to detect human trafficking. The involvement of corporations and nonprofit groups, such as Airline Ambassadors International (AAI), is still at an early stage, but already it is proving to be a valuable addition to the government and law-enforcement fight against the modern-day version of an age-old scourge.

"The government can't do it all by any stretch of the imagination – there needs to be that effort to get more buy-in from corporate America," says Rep. Chris Smith (R) of New Jersey, who wrote the landmark antitrafficking law in the US, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000. Public-private partnerships, he says, will be key to the next decade of action against the international slave trade of today.

Because trafficking victims are often moved from place to place, those in the travel industry are among the most likely to come into contact with them. That recognition led AAI, a group of workers from every aspect of the airline industry who provides humanitarian support for people in need worldwide, to enlist in 2009 in the fight against human trafficking. McPeak, who at that time was AAI's board chairman, received her training through the organization.

More corporations, too, are joining the battle.

Carlson, an international travel and hospitality company with 1,000 locations in 150 countries, has developed a training program for its employees and has established procedures to follow when a worker spots something suspicious, says vice president Deborah Cundy. The firm, she says, has created "a virtual army of eyes and ears."

Carlson was the first North American travel company to sign a "code of conduct" drafted in 1998 by the ECPAT (End Child Prostitution and Trafficking) International Network, a collaborative of nongovernmental organizations and individuals. The code challenges signers to provide training to employees and take a strong stance against trafficking.

Delta Airlines and Hilton Hotels recently became the fourth and fifth US-based signers, signaling an uptick in those joining the fight, says Ms. Cundy. "At some point, we do hope that it becomes normal business practice," she says.

Employees trained to spot telltale signs of a trafficking victim are often advised to look for evidence of malnourishment, scripted or inconsistent stories, signs of physical abuse, and fear. Traffickers are often unable to answer even basic questions about those they are "escorting" and may prevent them from speaking to others.

AAI founder and president Nancy Rivard learned in June of another incident in which special training paid off. In that case, the trained individuals identified two children on a flight who appeared to be distraught and whose accounts of where they were going conflicted with what their escorts said. Authorities who subsequently investigated the incident uncovered a trafficking ring in Boston – and rescued 82 children.

"There are many, many stories every month," says Ms. Rivard. "Our goal is to provide training at airports across the country."

It was standing room only at AAI's largest training to date, held at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in January, she says. The program takes roughly 90 minutes, and participants receive wallet cards describing signs of traffickers and victims. The session is geared mainly toward heightening awareness.

Lack of awareness among Americans is one of the most challenging aspects of the fight against human trafficking, says Representative Smith, who chairs the House subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights. Organized crime, street gangs, and pimps are increasingly engaged in international sex trafficking, an "extremely lucrative undertaking" that can net a trafficker $200,000 per victim, he said June 13 at a subcommittee hearing.

Prosecutions in the US of alleged human traffickers jumped between 2009 and 2010, according to an annual State Department report, released June 27. Perhaps less heartening, the number of convictions dropped, along with the number of identified victims, it found. In the US, victims are often trafficked from other countries, though some are runaway juveniles or children abducted domestically, the report said.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted the importance of strategic partnerships in battling trafficking, which she said enslaves as many as 27 million adults and children worldwide.

"Government should work more closely with the private sector," she said. "The decade of delivery is upon us."

Corporate participation, especially in the travel industry, is vital, says Carol Smolenski, executive director of ECPAT USA. The child prostitution trade has touched many airlines, hotels, and other enterprises, she says. "It has happened at every brand, because it's everywhere."

Source: CSMonitor.com

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infoZine - Hotels, Airlines Work to Stop Human Trafficking - Kansas City, Missouri News

Wednesday, June 15, 2011 :: Staff infoZine

By Michael Stainbrook - A woman boarded a plane with two children. When she reached her destination, she handed the children off to a man.

Washington, D.C. - infoZine - Scripps Howard Foundation Wire - A flight attendant noticed the strange exchange and alerted law enforcement officials, who stopped the man before he left the airport. Thanks to the flight attendant, a human trafficking ring was busted.

Similar incidents have taken place on flights from Ukraine to Chicago. Last week, flight attendants reported a potential human trafficking operation on a flight from Zurich to Chicago involving 30 young girls.

Such events are commonplace, said Nancy Rivard of Airline Ambassadors International, which works to prevent modern slavery transportation on commercial airlines. The group trains flight attendants and pilots about how to spot potential traffickers and how to respond.

She is not alone in this mission.

All Girls Allowed founder Chai Ling shows a book naming 2,175 Chinese children suspected as being trafficking victims as Deborah Cundy, left, and Nancy Rivard look on. The women testified before a House subcommittee Monday. SHFWire photo by Michael Stainbrook

Advocates to combat human trafficking through private-sector initiatives outlined their efforts to fight forced labor and sexual slavery Monday before the House Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act needs to be reauthorized, and the hearing was to show support for it. The act calls for strict penalties for those convicted of human trafficking in the U.S. and allows for sanctions against countries that “tolerate or condone” such activities.

“We know that organized crime, street gangs and pimps have expanded into sex trafficking at an alarming rate,” said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who introduced the current law and chairs the subcommittee. “It is an extremely lucrative undertaking.”

The latest version of the law first enacted in 2000 established the Trafficking in Persons Report, which ranks countries’ efforts to stop modern slavery.

Luis CdeBaca, ambassador-at-large and director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, testified that the TIP Report led many developing nations to put prevention, prosecution and victim protection measures in place.

“Leaders in Africa, Latin America and around the world credited the report as a motivating factor for their actions as governments,” he said. He encouraged government leaders to “get out on the road and see these people for yourselves.”

Six business representatives told of their efforts to enforce uniform best practices to intervene in situations in which human trafficking might take place.

Deborah Cundy, vice president of Carlson Companies, said the company was the first major hotel business to sign the code of conduct agreeing to train employees to identify and prevent child sexual exploitation. Hilton Hotels Corp. recently signed the agreement.

“In the travel industry, this abuse is sometimes played out in hotels and tourism sites around the world,” Cundy said. “There are hotels that are complicit in these activities, but often they are unknowing facilitators.”

Rivard said flight crews are trained to spot questionable travel arrangements, such as older men traveling with multiple young girls and not allowing them to use the bathroom.

Delta, U.S. Airways and Jet Blue have cooperated with Airline Ambassadors International, she said, including on a humanitarian trip to the Dominican Republic. On the return trip, crews from all three airlines spotted human trafficking taking place.

“The flight attendants on each airline didn’t know what to look for or how to respond but were anxious to help after we told them what they should do,” Rivard said. “We realized how vital a role airline personnel could play as frontline defense for international security.”

CdeBaca said one roadblock in reaching widespread agreements with hotels and airlines is a fear of associating their brands with illegal activity.

“The notion of having the term slavery associated with them was so nerve-wracking to many of these companies that when we would talk with them, they would say we would love to do something … but we don’t really want anybody to know what we’re doing,” CdeBaca said.

Chai Ling of All Girls Allowed testified about the harmful effects of China’s one-child policy. She said girls are aborted, killed at a young age or sold to allow the family to have a boy. Girls who survive are often sold into marriage to raise money for the child’s family and to appease men who might not otherwise find a wife. Ling said there are 37 million more men than women in China.

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Source: infoZine

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Southwest Airlines Does Ziltch to Stop Human Trafficking, Says Issue Is Closed | Women's Rights | Change.org

by Alex DiBranco December 09, 2010 01:08 PM (PT) Topics: Violence Against Women, Women in the Workforce

Growing up, my least favorite phrase to hear was "the subject is closed." It usually meant that my parents weren't agreeing to something my young heart felt to be absolutely vital, like a pony. In retrospect, some of these denials might have been valid. But Southwest Airlines treating anti-human trafficking advocates like a bunch of children? Unacceptable.

Over 800 Change.org members have asked that major airlines include training for flight crew on how to spot human trafficking. When transporting people into a life of slavery — many of them girls and women victims of sex trafficking, a.k.a. transportation for repeated rape — traffickers often opt for the speed and convenience of air travel. But if flight attendants know the typical tale-tell signs of trafficking and how to react, they can make sure that pimps never get their human trade off the ground.

Southwest Airlines' response? "I’m writing now to respectfully request your help in discouraging any further emails from the petitioners who support this particular cause on change.org." Would "this particular cause" be ending human trafficking, enslavement of children, repeated rape-for-pay of girls and women, etc.? "Our CEO, Gary Kelly, is still receiving several each day.  Given that we’ve engaged in communication on the subject" -- they said no to training to stop trafficking -- "and are firm in our position, we do consider this particular issue closed." That's right, dig into your bag of patronizing put-downs and tell hundreds of people concerned about trafficking that you've decided out-of-hand that the subject is closed.

As Angela Longerbeam writes on End Human Trafficking, "now they've not only made it clear that the issue of human trafficking is unimportant to their company, it's so unimportant that inbox clutter is a far more pressing issue than their customers' requests for a slavery-free flight." Perhaps Change.org members should let them know that whether or not they think the subject is "closed," slavery will continue to thrive with the aid of their negligence, and we're not going to just sit back while they abdicate responsibility and whine about hearing criticism.

The flight crew training program hundreds are advocating for actually comes from a woman who was herself a flight attendant for 30 years. Nancy Rivard's time as an American Airlines flight attendant inspired her to found Airline Ambassadors International (AAI), which in conjunction with the non-profit Innocents at Risk works to help airlines fight trafficking. They've even gone to the trouble of putting together a handy-dandy training that could that could help flight attendants, like Rivard herself was, to save lives.

All Southwest and the other major airlines need to do to give crews the knowledge they need to thwart traffickers and save innocent men, women, and children is include this program with their regular flight attendant training. It's designed, by someone who know what it's like to be a flight attendant, to slide easily into the standard training. This isn't an arduous request, yet it can put a big dent in modern-day slavery. So why are Southwest and the other major airlines stubbornly unwilling to even discuss, much less taken action against, an issue magnitudes more important than my childhood desire for a pony? With the support of concerned, dedicated opponents of human trafficking, the issue will remain open until the airlines change their policies and implement anti-trafficking training.
Photo credit: Mike Fisher

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.

Source: change.org

Southwest Airlines Does Ziltch to Stop Human Trafficking, Says Issue Is Closed | Women's Rights | Change.org

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