Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery where people profit from the control and exploitation of others. Approximately 800,000 victims are trafficked globally every year and they include children involved in the sex trade, adults who are coerced or deceived into commercial sex acts, and anyone forced into different forms of labor or services against their will. Human trafficking is one of the fastest-growing criminal industries in the world, and is estimated to be a $32 billion trade.

In September 2012, Sabre launched Passport to Freedom, a comprehensive initiative to unite the travel and tourism industries to fight human trafficking. The primary objective for the initiative is to increase awareness and educate the travel industry on human trafficking issues, advocate for legislation change, and provide opportunities for leaders to collaborate.

In July 2013 Sabre rolled out custom-designed online training for its global employees.  Sabre partnered with the Polaris Project, a leading organization in the global fight against human trafficking and modern-day slavery, to help develop the company’s employee training.
Find out how the training was created here.

Within the first six months, approximately 31 percent of all Sabre employees have voluntarily taken the training, with a 4.5 out of 5 positive rating. Now, in an effort to exponentially raise awareness, Sabre is releasing the training to the general public.  Sabre has made this move in part because numerous employees asked how their friends and family could take it.  Sabre’s 30-minute interactive training provides insight in children’s rights, the prevention of sexual exploitation and how to report suspected cases, using technology to provide this valuable resource on-demand.

“Sabre’s Passport to Freedom initiative communicates that we do not accept or tolerate human trafficking. The initiative allows us the opportunity to let criminals, and the traveling public alike, know that we’re not going to allow human traffickers to use our company as a stepping stone for their corrupt activities,” said Cristina Scott, chairperson of Sabre’s Passport to Freedom initiative. “By providing to the general public the training that Sabre employees have used to help identify and rescue two individuals in Uruguay, we are really hopeful that awareness will increase and that soon the citizens of the world will close in on the perpetrators.”

Polaris Project Executive Director and CEO said this training could be a valuable resource in the fight against human trafficking.