The Greater Dallas Restaurant Association hopes a new effort helps victims of human trafficking. This month it started placing signs in public restrooms with the hope victims see them and call listed resources for help.
“Doesn’t matter who you are or what your feelings are about it, you have to have the heart to help these people,” Chris Aslam said.
Aslam helped launch the effort after an experience in one of his restaurants late last year. Authorities showed up looking for a victim of human trafficking.
“They told me she was in the trafficking industry and they were trying to give her some help,” Aslam said.
They never found the girl but that experience prompted the idea.
“I went home and told my wife about what had happened that day and my wife said, 'Look, why don’t we put some signage in the restaurants, to educate either the victims or people that might know of a victim,'" Aslam said.
That’s when Randall White and the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association got involved.
They created a sign with information on resources to help people in need. The sign offers resources in multiple languages.
"This is fairly passive and it’s got information that they can easily remember and the first chance they can get at a phone, they’ll be helped out," White said.
The association hopes any business or restaurant with a public restroom gets involved and puts up a sign.
“That one moment they have in the bathroom may be the only time, the only private time they have to themselves,” White said.
"And that’s when we want to pop this in front of them and let them know that if this is the situation you are in, here’s what you can do to escape," he said.
If you are interested in having a sign at your place of work you can find more information at 24hourdallas.org/freedom
“You’ll feel good about it, your clients will feel good about it, your customers will feel good about it,” Aslam said. “And all it takes is one person to see it or one person that knows somebody to be helped and you’ve made a huge difference in everyone’s life.”