TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has announced a partnership with representatives from multiple industries throughout the state in an attempt to stop human trafficking.
Bondi is working with the Florida Trucking Association, Florida Retail Federation, Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, Florida Petroleum Council, Florida Chamber Foundation and Associated Industries of Florida in the initiative. Bondi's office anticipates that more associations and business groups will join the anti-trafficking initiative going forward.
The associations will share the online toolkit Bondi launched to help the association members create their own internal training sessions and policies to end human trafficking, a $32 billion industry that exploits children, women and men.
"Florida's businesses are uniquely positioned to help end human trafficking in our state," Bondi said. "By partnering with businesses spanning a wide array of industries, we can enlist their help to be Florida's eyes and ears to report and end suspected trafficking."
The businesses will also be working with Bondi's office and Terry Coonan, a representative of Florida State University's Center for the Advancement of Human Rights, to create industry-specific sessions meant to assist the businesses with developing their own anti-human trafficking plans.
In 2011, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center ranked Florida third in the number of calls received by the national hotline. Bondi has the goal of making Florida a zero-tolerance state for human trafficking.
Fla. AG partners with state businesses to halt human trafficking
