COMMISSION 
AGENDA MEMORANDUM                        Item No.     7a 
BRIEFING ITEM                             Date of Meeting      January 28, 2020 
DATE:     January 17, 2020 
TO:        Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director 
FROM:    Eric Schinfeld, Sr. Manager, Federal & International Government Relations 
Chad Aldridge, Manager, Operational Readiness & Airport Transition (ORAT) 
Tracy Patterson, Manager, Talent Development and Diversity 
SUBJECT:  Annual progress report on port-wide Human Trafficking Strategy implementation 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
On January 9, 2018, the Port of Seattle Commission passed a motion directing staff to finalize
and implement a Port-wide strategy to combat human trafficking. By taking that step, the
Commission increased our organization's leadership role on this important topic, for which we
not only have a moral obligation to protect residents and visitors but also a tangible role
because of our status as both a large employer and as the manager of significant trade and
travel facilities. 
January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and so it is appropriate to use the
January 28, 2020 Commission meeting to both update Commissioners on our progress and
successes, as well as use the public meeting as another platform to raise public awareness. 
We have implemented or are implementing almost all aspects of the Port's anti-human
trafficking strategy  from the successful creation of an internal policy to ensure all Port 
employees understand our commitment to this vital equity and social justice issue to the
successful rollout of a regional human trafficking awareness campaign. 
In 2020, staff is pleased to implement a new employee training on this topic, developed in
partnership with Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking. This is an important opportunity to
ensure that our own staff  and potentially others who work at Port facilities  have the
knowledge and resources to respond to instances of human trafficking. 
DETAILS 
The Port's human trafficking strategy has four main focus areas: 
1)  Training  Ensuring that all employees have access to the proper training and education
to understand both what human trafficking is and its impacts on our communities. 
2)  Communications  Using port facilities and communications channels to raise public
awareness of human trafficking and provide information to stop trafficking at our
facilities. 

Template revised April 12, 2018.

COMMISSION AGENDA  Briefing Item No. 7a                                  Page 2 of 2 
Meeting Date: January 28, 2020 
3)  Policies and Protocols  Ensuring that Port policies prohibit engagement in human
trafficking, and provide clear procedures for employees to follow to report suspicion of
human trafficking and violations of these policies. 
4)  Partnerships  Leveraging relationships to reduce duplication and to maximize the
impact of our efforts, including collaborating with nonprofits; local, state and federal
agencies; and key customers and vendors. 
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND 
Although slavery is commonly thought to be a thing of the past, each year millions of men,
women, and children are trafficked in countries around the world, including the United States.
Traffickers use violence, threats, deception, debt bondage, and other manipulative tactics to
force people to engage in commercial sex or to provide labor or services against their will. It is
estimated that human trafficking generates billions of dollars of profit per year  second only to
drug trafficking as the most profitable form of transnational crime. 
Here in Washington state, we are not immune from the problem. Washington had the 12th
highest call volume to the National Human Trafficking Hotline in 2017. In King County, an
estimated 300-500 children are prostituted annually, some are as young as 11 years old; there
are over 100 websites for soliciting sex in the Seattle area, many of which are used for human
trafficking purposes. 
As both the operator of an airport and an owner of a wide array of maritime facilities, we can
help reduce the probability that our properties will be used as a transit point for traffickers and
their victims. As a major employer, we can save lives by educating our staff on the damaging
effect that exploitation and trafficking have on individual lives and families, and how it
undermines our commitment to equity and social justice. As a public sector leader, we can
collaborate with other jurisdictions, customers, vendors and partners to raise awareness of this
important issue. 
ATTACHMENTS TO THIS BRIEFING 
(1)   Presentation slides 
(2)   Human Trafficking Motion 2018-01 
(3)   Port Human Trafficking Strategy executive summary 
PREVIOUS COMMISSION ACTIONS OR BRIEFINGS 
January  22,  2019   The  Commission  heard  a  one-year  update  on  strategy
implementation. 
July  24,  2018    The  Commission  heard  a  six-month  update  on  strategy
implementation, and extended key motion deadlines to December 31, 2019. 
January 9, 2018  The Commission passed a motion directing staff to finalize and
implement the Port's human trafficking strategy. 

Template revised September 22, 2016. 
Template revised September 22, 2016.