Florida Human Trafficking Signs Get Updates

There are required signs posted in airports, train stations and highway rest stops throughout the state to raise awareness of the National Human Trafficking Hotline. We hit the road to see if the message was getting through to travelers.

At our local airport as well as rest stops and train stations across the state, people told us they never noticed the signs.

“It doesn’t have anything to draw attention to it,” said Donna VanBramer a seasonal resident. “I have to say I probably would ignore that sign. And I usually read everything. I was a teacher for 30 years.”

“I have stopped at multiple rest areas across I-75, and I had never noticed the sign,” said anti-trafficking advocate Yaro Garcia, and she is always on high alert.  Garcia has counseled trafficking survivors for more than a decade and works with law enforcement as an advocate.  “This does not look like a sign meant to help someone in trouble,” she said.

In 2016 state legislators passed a bill requiring the signs be created and posted. Current Congressional Representative Ross Spano co-sponsored the bill when he was a state lawmaker.

To read the story by Jack Lowenstein on Wink News: Click Here

Category: Awareness