Department of Defense and Truckers Against Trafficking to present at 2014 Trafficking In America Conference

WASHINGTON - May 21, 2014 - PRLog -- Restoring Humanity from Modern Day Slavery is the theme for this year’s Trafficking In America Conference, and planners of the 2014 event have invited Ms. Dixon back as a favorite from the 2013 Trafficking In America Conference. Linda Dixon, Program Manager, Department of Defense, Combating Trafficking in Persons, will lead a discussion about the Department’s efforts to combat trafficking in persons. She will specifically discuss her office’s efforts to reduce the demand for human trafficking within the military and larger Defense Department community.

“The Department of Defense has worked to overcome media reports that alleged members of the Department were involved in the sex trade industry and complicit with forced labor related issues,” Ms. Williams said. “For example, the Department of Defense created specialized online and mobile training modules to ensure units are trained to understand and recognize “indicators” of trafficking in persons as part of its zero tolerance policy for human trafficking.”

These measures reduce the demand for trafficking in persons, increase the awareness of workers regarding combating trafficking in persons requirements, prevent trafficking in persons-related incidents from occurring, and enhance the investigation of TIP-related incidents that occur.

Ms. Dixon retired from the Army in November 2006 and immediately started her civil service career as an Intergovernmental Affairs Officer within the Defense Human Resources Activity. She is the Program Manager for implementing the Department of Defense’s program to combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP) http://ctip.defense.gov/. Ms. Dixon is currently developing training modules that are based on realistic, military-related TIP scenarios. She is working with all the military services in establishing metrics for tracking TIP awareness training and understanding of TIP-related policy and programs. Ms. Dixon testified before congressional committees about the Department of Defense’s program to combat TIP. She is working with the Defense Acquisition Technology and Logistic office to address labor trafficking issues related to Defense contracting.

Ms. Dixon’s last duty assignment within the military was with to the Department of Defense Office of the Inspector General (IG) as a Senior Program Analyst within the Inspections and Evaluations Directorate. During her tenure as an IG, Ms. Dixon assisted DoD with initiatives to combat trafficking in persons. She led an IG team on a worldwide evaluation of the DoD efforts to combat trafficking in persons. The team made several recommendations in the areas of coordination, training, policy, and metrics.

Another return speaker will be Kylla Leeburg, a grassroots activist and co-founder of Chapter 61 Ministries — the originator of Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) – with five other women in 2007. When TAT became its own 501c3 organization in 2011, Ms. Leeburg was named national social media coordinator. In that capacity, she handles Facebook, Twitter and YouTube activity for the organization, raises awareness about human trafficking at national trucking shows and abolitionist conferences, and participates in operational decision-making for TAT.

Truckers Against Trafficking recognizes that members of the trucking industry and individual truckers are invaluable in the fight against this heinous crime. As the eyes and ears of our nation's highways, truckers are in a unique position to make a difference and close loopholes to traffickers who seek to exploit our transportation system for their personal gain. TAT exists to educate, equip, empower and mobilize members of the trucking and travel plaza industry to combat domestic sex trafficking.

About the Trafficking in America Task Force - Trafficking in America Task Force is a 501c3 non-profit charitable organization and has been working since 2004 to educate the American population about the reality of the sale of American women, men, and children into sexual slavery for the profit and pleasure of their perpetrators, and that the forced labor trafficking of both adults and children is real in this country. Our Vision is to help eliminate the human trafficking of women, men and minor children in America, and to provide a culture for our children free of sexual exploitation and slavery, where people know and own their own intrinsic value.