In February 2024, Lyft became the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Blue Campaign’s first rideshare partner. The DHS Blue Campaign is a national public awareness campaign to educate the public and industry partners on how to recognize and respond to human trafficking, which is defined as the coercion and exploitation of innocent people for labor or commercial sex acts.
Lyft and DHS Blue Campaign developed a human trafficking prevention tutorial that is now available in the Lyft app for drivers. This tutorial leverages expertise from professionals at DHS, who are renowned for their expertise in human trafficking prevention, and will supplement Lyft’s existing tutorial on human trafficking awareness and prevention. This partnership allowed us to co-create a comprehensive tutorial for Lyft drivers nationwide, incorporating the latest information and best practices in human trafficking prevention.
“We are committed to working with DHS to help educate drivers about how to identify and report a possible crime if they suspect a rider is a victim or perpetrator of human trafficking,” said Ameena Gill, Vice President Safety and Customer Care at Lyft. “Our hope is that the driver community, which gives hundreds of millions of rides a year, can become an even greater force for good by helping identify these crimes and combat human trafficking.”
“The Department of Homeland Security is committed to bringing a whole-of-society approach to our counter-human trafficking mission,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “By partnering with key private sector leaders like Lyft – whose drivers interact with millions of riders every year – we are better able to shine a light on this heinous crime; identify, protect, and support victims; and bring perpetrators to justice. I am grateful for Lyft’s continued commitment to combating the scourge of human trafficking and encourage other stakeholders to join us in this critical work.”
We encourage users to report safety incidents to the Lyft support team and to law enforcement. Any user can report a safety incident through the Help tab in their Lyft app or can find more information on how to report an incident via Lyft’s website.
As our partnership with DHS shows, we can’t do this work alone. In addition to working with the Blue Campaign, Lyft continues to consult with our Safety Advisory Council, who advise us on products, features, and processes that help keep our community safe.