Emerging Threat of Human Trafficking

Human trafficking has been a recognized threat in our society and is also an issue within the aviation industry. This issue is currently the second-largest criminal industry worldwide, with an estimated 27.6 million people living in modern slavery as of 2021 (IATA, n.d.). Even though human trafficking rests with our government, its prevention has become an important role for the airline industry to uphold. "Nearly 80% of international human trafficking journeys cross through official border control points, including airports" (IATA, n.d.).

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) currently has 20 integrated components that is called Layers of Security. Throughout these layers, resolution from the 2018 IATA Annual General Meeting has been put in place to help fight and prevent human trafficking. By training their staff on best practices, recognizing behaviors, and reporting, it maximizes their efforts on the prevention of the crime itself. 

If I had to recommend a step for improvement, I would suggest that we include a safety brief on recognizing behaviors to the passengers as well instead of giving the training exclusively to the staff. I understand it might potentially give traffickers an advantage, but I believe that having more set of eyes on the problem would bring better outcomes.    

Reference 

IATA (Human Trafficking). (n.d.). www.iata.org. https://www.iata.org/en/programs/passenger/human-trafficking/

‌