![FILE - In this Aug. 20, 2020 file photo, travelers request an Uber ride at Los Angeles International Airport's LAX-it pick up terminal. Drivers for app-based ride-hailing and delivery services are suing to overturn a California ballot initiative that makes them independent contractors instead of employees eligible for benefits and job protections. The lawsuit filed Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021 in the California Supreme Court said Proposition 22 is unconstitutional because it limits the power of the Legislature to grant workers the right to organize and excludes drivers from being eligible for workers' compensation. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File) [Jan-12-2021]](https://img.ksl.com/slc/2807/280734/28073403.jpg?filter=kslv2/responsive_top_sm)
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SALT LAKE CITY — Ride share company Uber is partnering with Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes to launch a new training video to help drivers identify and report human trafficking, the company announced Thursday. The program comes as part of January's national human trafficking prevention month.
The company partnered with anti-trafficking nonprofit Polaris and Reyes, a known advocate against human trafficking, to produce the training program that educates users on trafficking, Uber said in a news release on Thursday.
The video helps drivers understand how to recognize human trafficking and advises drivers to never try to intervene or call attention to a suspected human trafficking situation but to instead observe and alert authorities for help.
Polaris reports that it has seen a 40% increase in the number of crisis trafficking situations reported to its hotline during the COVID-19 pandemic, something Uber officials said points to the importance of raising awareness of the issue and trying to help those in the vulnerable population human trafficking typically exploits.
"Human trafficking is a global problem that affects all cities and virtually all industries," Reyes says in the video. In addition to being offered in English, Reyes' message and Uber's video are available in Spanish.
The training is being sent to all drivers and couriers in the Beehive State in an effort to raise awareness of the "horrendous" crime, Reyes said.
Uber's educational video is just one way Utah is participating in human trafficking awareness month; also announced Thursday, Salt Lake Chamber President and CEO Derek Miller was appointed to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Task Force to Eradicate Human Trafficking.
The task force is aimed at educating employers and empowering companies to be aware of the warning signs of human trafficking, which can include large debt, document fraud, and deportation and intimidation threats, among others.
"The pandemic brought many things to a halt but it did not halt the scourge of human trafficking, and much work remains to be done to ensure we end this blight on humanity," Miller said in a statement. "Human trafficking is (an) illicit but active business, and we must unite as a business community to educate, detect, empower, and support efforts to bring it to an end."
