UPS brought more than 100 Atlanta-based businesses and nonprofit organizations together on Jan. 15 for a discussion on how to collaborate to fight human trafficking.
Event speakers include executives from Delta Airlines, IHG, and AmeriGroup Georgia. Attendees include representatives from the Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction, the Department of Family & Children Services, the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office and local nonprofits.
A panel led by Nikki Clifton, UPS President of Social Impact and The UPS Foundation brought representatives from three nonprofits into the discussion: Vanessa Wilkins, Executive Director of the Atlanta office for the Tahirih Justice Center; Christian Murphy, CEO of Wellspring Living, and; Jennifer Swain, executive director of youthSpark.
“There are over 1,000 cases of human trafficking cases represented and reported in Atlanta every year in metro Atlanta,” Wilkins said.
The Tahirih Justice Center provides legal services and social services case management to those they believe have a legitimate claim to legal status in the United States under immigration law as survivors of human trafficking and other forms of gender-based violence, she said.
“Online exploitation is on the rise. Traffickers are using the internet as well as social media pages to really exploit children, to not only to recruit them, but to also sell them to the highest bidder, unfortunately,” Murphy said.
Wellspring Living’s website says it provides domestic sex trafficking victims and those at risk (ages 12+) with comprehensive, trauma-informed, victim-centered recovery services through residential programs, community-based programs, and post-program support.
The third organization represented was youthSpark, which Jennifer Swain, its executive director, said is a nonprofit based inside the Fulton County Juvenile Court. It identifies gaps in the trafficking response and creates solutions to those problems.
“We’re really looking at youth who are in the system who have instances of unaddressed Child Sexual Abuse and Child sexual assault, education disconnection, and those young people who have frequent running away behaviors that indicate that there are some additional questions that need to be asked,” she said.
One misconception Wilkins said exists is that human trafficking is sex trafficking. What’s forgotten is labor trafficking is also coercion by forcing someone to work for no pay or little pay. Lack of immigration status is a key on ramp to human trafficking.
UPS has a policy that prohibits human trafficking within its employee base that also flows down to its supply chain. Clifton told Rough Draft Atlanta that the global logistics provider has a keen understanding of the places, networks, and systems commonly used in the spread of human trafficking.
“Our approach to combatting human trafficking is comprehensive—we use our financial resources, vast network, local partnerships and global workforce to deliver hope, awareness and change,” Clifton said.
Many UPS workers find the issue resonates with them. She said drivers feel that way as traffickers often sell and transport victims by using the same routes as UPS drivers travel. The logistics provider mobilizes its workforce by training employees to be an extra set of eyes and ears for law enforcement where they live, work and travel.
Clifton said more than12,000 newly hired UPS rivers completed human trafficking training. Almost all said they intend to use what they learned and now understand the process to report the crime. Approximately 210,000 UPS drivers and management employees have signed up for and received training on how to recognize and report human trafficking.
Employees have raised more than $10 million to combat human trafficking through employee giving campaigns. They’ve also volunteered for local anti-trafficking organizations like WellSpring Living.
UPS encouraged its audience during panel discussions and the wider Atlanta community to join the fight by taking action, whether they take anti-human trafficking training, donate, volunteer or have important conversations with their loved ones.
“This is especially urgent as our city prepares to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will bring thousands of visitors to Atlanta, some for the sole purpose of engaging in human trafficking,” Clifton said.
