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JUNE 25, 2025
New Article: "How Employers Can Prevent Human Trafficking"
Businesses Ending Slavery & Trafficking (BEST) provides new information for Mississippi businesses in the fight against trafficking. In "How Employers Can Prevent Human Trafficking," Kirsten Foot, Ph.D., CEO & Executive Director of BEST, discusses suggestions for employers to educate and protect their employees and communities from trafficking.
"How Employers Can Prevent Human Trafficking"
Kirsten Foot, PH.D., CEO & Executive Director of BEST
Human trafficking has been identified in over 25 industries, including retail, restaurants, finance, and recreation. This devasting crime creates risks for employers, staff, and customers as well as those exploited. Employees in public-facing roles are uniquely positioned to spot and identify potential victims of human trafficking—so equipping staff to respond promptly and effectively is essential for every employer.
Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) helps employers improve safety and make a difference in their employees’ workplace and their community by providing accessible and impactful human trafficking prevention training courses that can be used in any industry.
According to Eric Drever, Chief of Police in Tukwila, WA, "Businesses cannot afford to ignore the crime of human trafficking. They need to train their staff to recognize the signs and be proactive in addressing it, for everyone's safety and for the sake of their business thriving. BEST provides excellent training that prepares employees to know what to look for and how to respond effectively."
Each of BEST’s trainings are 30-minute, interactive online video courses that can be taken individually on a computer at your own pace, or in a group setting. The BEST Basics training course was designed for employees of any other type of public-facing business, such as restaurants, retail shops, recreational facilities, banks, etc. Employees have the option to take the course in English or Spanish. BEST Basics is available to employers for a modest fee that includes completion tracking and reports.
BEST also provides four industry-specific training to equip people who work in the hospitality, transit, maritime, and aviation industries to recognize and respond to human trafficking effectively and safely.
Inhospitable to Human Trafficking: Traffickers use hotels for their schemes and illegal activities. While many believe hotels to only be venues of sex trafficking, labor trafficking victims are also housed there by their exploiters. BEST’s Inhospitable to Human Trafficking training is designed to prepare to hospitality and staff to identify human trafficking and respond to it safely.
Transit to Freedom: Many survivors of human trafficking have said they used public transportation while they were being exploited or to escape exploitation. Transit employees can help if they are prepared to recognize, respond safely to, and report human trafficking incidents effectively by taking BEST’s Transit to Freedom.
Ports to Freedom: Human trafficking victims can be exploited in port facilities as well onboard ships, with limited ways to contact help. Maritime employees can learn how to help to identify signs of human trafficking and respond by taking BEST’s Ports to Freedom.
Flights to Freedom: Survivors of human trafficking have reported having traveled through airports during their exploitation. Airport employees can equip themselves with the knowledge they need to identify victims being moved through airports by taking BEST’s Flights to Freedom.
BEST offers both free and paid options for each of our four industry-specific trainings. The free training option for individuals provides each person who completes the training with an e-certificate of completion. It does not provide employers with a report of staff who took the training, or any other support. Paid training options for employers include reports of staff completion for employers, live trainings, Q&A sessions, train-the-trainer services, course customization, and more.
To access any of these trainings, navigate to https://best-training.org. Choose “Individual” as the training type, click on the training you want to take and scroll down to fill out the account details. After completion, you will be provided with a certificate of completion.
Employees who take any of BEST’s trainings will be able to recognize the signs of sex trafficking and labor trafficking in their workplace and know how to respond safely and effectively. BEST's partners affirm that addressing human trafficking proactively creates a safer environment for employees and customers, helps with staff retention, and is a way for businesses to enact their core values in their communities—as well as reduce risks to the business. Anti-human trafficking training for employees and contracted labor is essential in helping businesses prevent exploitation from occurring on their premises or in their operations. It is also crucial that businesses develop survivor-centered anti-trafficking policies because training alone is not enough to address the exploitation. Contact us via info@bestalliance.org for information on the consulting services we offer employers to develop a human trafficking prevention strategy customized for your business that addresses policies, response protocols, and communications practices.
If you suspect a person may be a victim of sex or labor trafficking, contact the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888. As MBAT members, we encourage you to remain vigilant as trafficking is not only on the rise but all around us.
To learn more about MBAT or utilize the MBAT resources, visit the MBAT website, email MBAT@sos.ms.gov, or call 601-359-6344.
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