Businesses Getting on Board

Atlanta is seeing the problem [sex trafficking] firsthand. Some attribute the issue to a huge interstate system. Others put the blame on Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport – the world’s busiest airport.

“I think they are absolutely connected. We don’t know for sure but we have seen human traffickers utilize the airport to bring in victims,” Brock Nicholson, Special Agent in Charge ICE Atlanta. “We know that the same airports bring in conventioneers and other targets or employers that might be interested in these individuals as well.”

But there are now big corporations getting on board such as Coca Cola, Delta and LexisNexis. Many are taking initiatives to educate employees about red flags whether it is in the supply chains for their products or customers such as airline travelers.

In fact, Delta Airlines is the first major airline to sign the ECPAT, End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography, and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes. It’s a global network of businesses that work together to eliminate of child prostitution. Delta is developing policies and procedures to educate employees recognize the problem and address it.

“I know Delta has put a lot of their pilots and their stewards through training to be aware of things to look for - to be aware of the signs and signals,” said Elisabeth Marchant, the founder of Womenetics, a resource for female business professionals who are proactively educating employees about warning signs and red flags.

“There is also a big move in the hospitality industry now with hotel systems -- like the Intercontinental Hotel Group and Hilton -- who have also joined ECPAT who are working on these issues to create alerts and lookout for these problems in hotels,” she said.