SEATTLE — The Seattle nonprofit Businesses Ending Slavery & Trafficking (BEST) says its mission is to equip leaders to use the power of business to prevent human trafficking. It's the first organization in the country dedicated entirely to working directly with businesses to disrupt human trafficking.
In an interview with KING 5, Mar Brettmann with BEST discussed how they're working with the Port of Seattle to train employees to better spot the signs of human trafficking.
"Unfortunately traffickers use airports as well as seaports to traffic people," Brettmann said.
In 2018, Washington state had the 13th highest call volume to the National Human Trafficking Hotline. As a result, the Port of Seattle, one of the biggest ways in and out of Seattle, is stepping up efforts to spot and end trafficking coming through our ports.
BEST is in the process of putting signs up in multiple languages at the ports that can alert victims of trafficking on how to find help.
As for those passing through the airport? Brettmann recommended being on the lookout for signs of trafficking.
"What we can do in everyday life is just watch for those signs of force, coercion, control," Brettmann said. "Any time a minor is involved in the sex trade that is considered human trafficking under human law."
For more information, visit bestalliance.org.
The National Human Trafficking Hoteline is 888-373-7888 or Text: BeFree (233733). This hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Segment Producer Joseph Suttner. Watch New Day Northwest 11 AM weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day.