Coach Cries Racial Profiling, But the Truth Could Save Thousands of Lives

DENVER - June 4, 2018 - PRLog -- On May 28th, as we celebrated Memorial Day coach Lindsay Gottlieb was traveling with her fiancé and her 1-year-old child. As they boarded a Southwest Airlines flight in Denver, an agent asked her for paperwork that would show that her infant was indeed hers. Gottlieb supplied a passport but was asked for further proof, such as a Facebook photo or birth certificate. The coach became offended and accused the agent of singling her out because her child is biracial.

Jeff Brodsky, president and founder of JOY International, responds:

I was not there and do not know exactly what was said. I am also unaware of the training this Southwest staffer has received. But what the agent did appears to be commendable. In fact, it is exactly what my staff and I train airline personnel to do as a way of combatting child sex trafficking.

Sadly, tens of thousands of children are trafficked every year. It happens everywhere—including on domestic flights in the United States.

There is no certain "look" of a trafficker. Race has nothing to do with it. The courier can be a mom or grandma type. Traffickers come in all shapes and sizes.

Being asked for a birth certificate or other verifiable proof can be a hassle. Passports are not enough, as they can easily be forged.  But I assure you, the potential trafficking of a child, teen or young woman can be averted. Agents who have used these steps have caught traffickers in the act.

As well-intentioned as Gottlieb may have been, she likely doesn't realize that her actions could hurt the fight against child sex trafficking and put children of all races in harm's way. There will undoubtedly be a call to stop agents from doing what is right to appease people traveling with children so as not to inconvenience them or ruffle any feathers. Agents having seen the news coverage will now be reticent to ask for full identification for infants. I believe Gottlieb has unwittingly, unknowingly and unintentionally given child traffickers reason to rejoice. She may have set back years of work in our fight to protect children.

While I understand the coach's reasoning and her emotional hurt, her response was wrong.

We instruct airline and airport employees (especially ticketing and gate agents) in how they can recognize even the slightest possibility that a child is potentially being trafficked. This type of screening is, absolutely, necessary across the board, regardless of race.

What this means is that children who were going to be trafficked and forced into sexual slavery have been rescued before the abuse took place. Unspeakable horror and pain have been stopped before they happen, and potential traffickers have been arrested, prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned.

Wouldn't one child being saved from a life of sexual slavery be worth it? What if that child were yours?

Read Brodsky's entire article at: https://www.charismanews.com/opinion/71403-coach-cries-racial-profiling-but-the-truth-could-save-thousands-of-lives

For more information or to schedule an interview with Jeff Brodsky, contact:

Helen Cook 903-654-0938 or helen.cook@primestarpublicity.com