BY ROB DAVIS
FOR THE OBSERVER
ALABAMA — Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen was the guest speaker at last week’s Auburn in Focus Event held at the Auburn Chamber of Commerce. Allen was there to share insights into his office’s A.C.T. initiative, which stands for Alabama Combats Trafficking.
A.C.T. is a statewide initiative by the Alabama Secretary of State’s office to raise awareness about human trafficking and to empower Alabama businesses in taking action against trafficking. Allen spoke about his commitment to ending human trafficking in the state of Alabama by educating businesses on ways to notice if a trafficker and a victim enter their place of business.
“We have a lot of interaction with small businesses,” Allen said. “So we said, ‘What can we do to bring attention to human trafficking inside the state of Alabama?’ We came up with Alabama Combats Trafficking and partnered with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. We really wanted to empower Alabama businesses to be aware of what’s going on and take action against trafficking.”
According to the Engage Together Project for Alabama, which is an initiative started by the Alabama Attorney General’s office, human trafficking remains a critical issue in Alabama, with most of the activity happening along major transportation corridors. In 2025, law enforcement operations resulted in the rescue of 115 children and 205 arrests. A separate operation that ended in August of 2025 rescued 133 children from sex traffickers and resulted in 234 arrests. Alabama is considered a high risk area, with Interstate 20 serving as a major trafficking corridor and Birmingham highlighted as a hot spot for human trafficking. The National Human Trafficking Hotline has received over 3,200 signals in Alabama.
“This is not something that just happens in larger cities,” Allen said. “It goes on throughout the state of Alabama, and we’re concerned about it. Human trafficking victims can be of any age, race, ethnicity and sex. They can be from any cultural background, religion, socioeconomic class and every level of education. We want to make sure that people and business owners and employees can recognize it, and we want to make sure that we have resources to let law enforcement know about it.”
According to Allen, some of the indicators of human trafficking that business owners and employees can look out for include:
• Individuals living with an employer
- Poor living conditions
- Multiple people living in a cramped space
- Inability to speak to individuals alone
- Answers appear to be scripted and rehearsed
- An employer holding identity documents
- Signs of physical abuse
- Submissive or fearful
- Unpaid or paid very little
- Under 18 and in prostitution How to report a tip:
- Contact your local law enforcement agency by dialing 911
- Call the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free at (888) 373-7888.
- Text the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 233733 or chat via humantraffickinghotline.org/chat.
- Report criminal activity to the State Bureau of Investigation Crime Hotline by calling (800)392-8011 or www.app.alea.gov/SAR/if unable to call.
