A new approach in the fight against modern-day slavery launches across the United States today, as global anti-human trafficking organization A21, with support from the U.S. Department of Transportation, rolls out a multi-platform media campaign designed to heighten public awareness across transportation hubs, networks and airports nationwide.
Can You See Me?, a series of confronting videos, billboards, posters and educational materials, depicts scenarios of the most common forms of modern-day slavery, and empowers members of the public who suspect human trafficking activity to call the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
The arresting videos and posters will appear in trains and railway stations across the Amtrak rail network nationwide, including Los Angeles Union Station, New York Penn Station and Washington Union Station, and throughout many of the country’s biggest airports including JFK, Chicago O’Hare, Newark, LaGuardia and others, in prominent public spaces and across all major social networks.
The campaign anticipates reaching over 30 million commuters via the Amtrak network alone in 2018.
When the Can You See Me? campaign was tested in the pilot area of Kent and Essex in the U.K., the U.K’s national hotline received a 300 percent increase in calls from members of the public to the police over six months.
The campaign is still live in airports throughout the U.K., including Heathrow and Gatwick. The attorney general of the United States played the first Can You See Me? video at the 2017 National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation conference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, noting that this “video reinforces to the public the importance of recognizing the signs of child sex-trafficking and reporting suspected crimes,” and emphasizing that “nothing less than a united effort will be enough to keep our children from becoming victims of exploitation.”
“Can You See Me? is designed to empower members of the public in the fight against human trafficking,” said Christian Elliott, Global Development Director, A21. “Everyone has an innate sense of suspicion; we all know when we’ve observed something that doesn’t seem right, but often it doesn’t feel worthy of a call to the police. This campaign exists to fill that space between people’s suspicion and a police investigation. Gathering small pieces of information that together could corroborate a police investigation makes all the difference.”
Supported by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Polaris and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the Can You See Me? campaign will run nationwide throughout 2018 and 2019. Anyone who suspects human trafficking activity should call the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline on 1888-373-7888 or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST
See an error in this article?
To contact us or to submit an article
