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2021 National Outreach Survey for Transportation

Get Involved

The USDOT has outlined the modes of transportation to include: Aviation, Maritime, Pipelines, Railroads, Roadway, and Transit.

The 2021 National Outreach Survey for Transportation is open for participation for all modes of transportation and entities in the transportation private and public sectors, even if not listed here.

The National Outreach Survey for Transportation (NOST) team will draft survey questions for each mode of transportation (and subsets) where we have participating Oversight Agencies. An Oversight Agency (OA) is an approved entity that is willing to distribute a custom NOS survey link to their employees/members. For example, an Aviation OA requests our team to draft custom survey questions for each of the following Aviation subsets: Pilots, Flight Attendants, and Ground Crew.

It is important to understand how different modes of transportation are used during recruitment, exploitation, during extraction or escape, and also during the healing journeys of each survivor. Anti-trafficking efforts frequently discuss the loopholes in which human traffickers exploit transportation modes but we also want to highlight the positive ways in which transportation is used by survivors and identify unmet transportation needs in the continuum of care for survivors.

To accomplish this, we will draft custom survey questions for the following groups:

Multi-Modes of Transportation

Sex and Labor Trafficking Survivors

Direct Victim Service Providers

Data collected on this study will include baseline survey questions for each survey respondent participating in the transportation industry but we have the infrastructure to draft custom survey questions for each subset, as needed. An overview of the data collected will be presented in a final report and will be made available to the public in an open-source database.

Study Limitations: This study is limited to the transportation industry and sex and labor trafficking survivors, who will complete a survivor survey to better inform the industry of how transportation was used during their recruitment, exploitation, extraction/escape, and in their healing journeys and to provide recommendations for improved transportation access on behalf of human trafficking survivors. In addition, there will be survey questions for direct victim service providers. We reserve the right to not include custom survey questions for transportation modes/subsets where we do not have an OA participating.

The 2021 National Outreach Survey for Transportation will collect data in the United States and in other countries where OA's are engaged.

5 Ways to Get Involved!

There is neither a cost to be involved nor to access the data collected.

The unique methods for distributing the 2021 National Outreach Survey for Transportation rely upon the participation of transportation associations, unions, and companies in the private and public sectors that agree to distribute a custom survey link to their employees or members. UAS identifies those entities as an Oversight Agency (OA).

Once approval has been confirmed by your entity to participate, there is minimal time commitment to participate as an OA. If your request includes the need for custom survey questions for several subsets of employees/members, a short interview with a point of contact may be required to identify information for each group.

Your time commitment includes:

Get Internal Approval: Once you obtain internal approval from your organization, we provide a Memo of Understanding regarding your participation. Signing an MOU is optional but it underscores the responsibilities of UAS and specifies that your primary responsibility is to distribute a custom survey link to your members/employees once the NOST launches.
Define Subsets: Our Research Team will send an email request to confirm if you have multiple groups (subsets) that you would like custom survey questions drafted for. There may be follow-up email correspondence regarding the identified subsets.
Review Final Survey Instrument for your team (Optional): Each OA has the option to review the final survey questions prior to distributing the survey link. The range of questions will be limited to the subsets you have defined. Reviewing the final survey instrument is optional and not required.
Distribute the Custom Survey Link: Our Research Team will email your custom survey link for distribution once the NOST has launched. We ask that it be promptly distributed and the survey will be open for 60 days. To ensure greater participation, it is beneficial to send one or more reminders during this time but that is optional.

Do you need more clarity about becoming an OA? Download our OA Overview here or visit our FAQ. Early confirmation is recommended to help inform the development of the survey instrument. See Timeline and Process below.

We encourage the submission of proposed survey questions or topics that you feel should be asked on this transportation survey. Let us know what data would help inform positive changes in counter-trafficking measures in the transportation industry.

We are seeking anti-trafficking experts, Transportation Institutes, and/or researchers to assist in one of our Working Groups, contribute to data analysis, or author one or more segments of our final report. We encourage you to submit your request for consideration early on. Selected candidates will be fully recognized as a Contributor for this study.
Deadline: The Contributor selection process will continue on an as-needed basis; however, selections will occur on a first-come, first serve basis, so early confirmation is encouraged.

The 2021 National Outreach Survey for Transportation will be open to 1) individuals in the transportation industry, 2) for sex and/or labor trafficking survivors who will complete our survivor survey, and 3) direct victim service providers. Sign up to get notified when the NOS for Transportation launches in 2021.

There is an opportunity for one or more Sponsors to become a financial partner for a specific need within this study. If you would like information about becoming a Sponsor, please contact our Research Team or complete the sign-up form. There are limited opportunities for Sponsor(s) to participate and to be recognized for your contributions. United Against Slavery is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

If you have questions, please review our FAQ.
If you need further assistance, please email our Research Team at research@unitedagainstslavery.org.

Our Timeline and Process

Updated 2/18/21

Some of USDOT's efforts to combat sex and labor trafficking include:

In 2012, DOT mandated that all 55,000 employees receive human trafficking awareness training, and every three years thereafter.
In 2016, the DHS Blue Campaign released the Transportation Toolkit for trucking, aviation, rail, and maritime.
In 2018, DOT established the Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking and released the final report in 2019.
In 2020, DOT announced that over 200 transportation industry leaders answered the call to help fight human trafficking.
In 2020, DOT announced that United Against Slavery is the first-ever recipient of the U.S. Department of Transportation Combating Human Trafficking in Transportation Impact Award.
An overview of USDOT efforts can be found here.

National Outreach Survey for Transportation
Frequently Asked Questions