Legislation seeks to have airline workers report human trafficking

Two United States senators, including Virginia's own Sen. Mark Warner, have introduced a bill with the goal of combating human trafficking.

We've been hearing about more cases involving human trafficking in our area recently, especially throughout the I-81 corridor.

What if there were a way to stop the trafficking before it gets in our area, or even on our soil? Well that is what some new legislation aims to do.

The "Stop Trafficking On Planes" act --or STOP as it's known-- would require certain airline employees to be trained in recognizing signs of possible human trafficking. Flight attendants were mentioned as employees who could do a lot of good with such training. They are in the air every day and to have them able to recognize certain signs could be important in the fight.

"Airlines are one of the ways that traffickers bring their victims, so to have thousands and thousands of personnel watching for that? That's fantastic," said Jim Blair, Head of Trafficstop, an organization that aims to combat Human Trafficking.

Blair also said the fact that action is being taken to combat this --instead of just talking about it-- is a monumental step in the right direction.

Right now this bill has been sent to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. This is just the latest action in trafficking efforts that Sen. Mark Warner has taken. He also supported an act that provides incentives to states to ensure that minors sold for sex are treated as victims.