Tribal gaming and hospitality professionals now have access to a new human trafficking awareness toolkit developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and other agencies.
The Human Trafficking Response Guide for the Tribal Gaming and Hospitality Industry was developed by DHS, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, National Indian Gaming Commission and the U.S. Department of the Treasury, a news release said. The toolkit is the “first interagency partnership on a toolkit for the Tribal gaming and hospitality community.”
“Successfully combating human trafficking is a multi-disciplinary, ‘whole-of-society’ effort,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said in the release. “The Human Trafficking Response Guide for the Tribal Gaming and Hospitality Industry, the first of its kind, will assist an industry that is vulnerable to traffickers and will help protect potential victims."
The guide includes culturally appropriate tips and resources and considers survivor information, the release reported. Tribal gaming and hospitality employees who include “security, surveillance and transportation staff; casino gaming attendants; food and beverage staff; housekeeping, maintenance and room service; and front of house staff,” can benefit from the guide.
“Along with specific definitions and examples of human trafficking, the guide contains printable posters with role-specific indicators of the crime and appropriate reporting information,” the release said.
"The survivor-informed toolkit will aid in the detection and prevention of human trafficking crimes in Tribal gaming and hospitality settings," Mayorkas added, according to the release. "I thank the NIGC, BIA and U.S. Department of Treasury for their continued partnership to combat human trafficking within the Indian gaming and hospitality industry.”
Tribal leaders, Tribal gaming employees and indigenous communities asked for and gave feedback into the toolkit, the release said.
“This culturally tailored, survivor-informed toolkit combines the Department’s human trafficking knowledge, tools and resources with the invaluable expertise, perspective and guidance of the Tribal gaming and hospitality industry, and indigenous communities,” DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking Director Cardell Morant said in the release. “The toolkit empowers indigenous communities to protect victims and provides them with the tools for identifying and reporting potential human trafficking situations to the proper authorities.”
