Ten years ago, a friend approached Kent Couch, who at the time operated the one-store Stop and Go Mini Mart/Shell in Bend, Oregon, with a question: Can you put a sign in the restroom that provides a hotline for victims of human trafficking?
“I couldn’t say no. But I said, ‘I don’t have a trafficking problem in my neighborhood. We operate in a nice, upscale area,’” said Couch.
Shortly after that conversation, Couch put signs with a nice frame—to make them look store-sanctioned—in both restrooms. Within days, one of the signs was ripped off the wall and tossed aside. A replacement sign met the same fate.
“It was shocking that traffickers destroyed the signs because they didn’t want their victims to see the number and dial it,” said Couch. “It was such an eye-opener for me to see that it’s happening in my store in a high-income area. It is happening in my backyard.”
The sign was produced by the aptly named group In Our Backyard, which at the time was a regional organization that addressed trafficking. The group’s founder, Nita Belles, saw convenience stores as part of the answer.
Belles realized that there was a moment of opportunity to reach a survivor. “Signage in a convenience store restroom tells them that people care about them and that there is a solution,” she said.
Couch told Belles that the program could scale nationwide if NACS were to get involved. The ensuing partnership with NACS led to dramatically increased industry awareness and the creation of Convenience Stores Against Trafficking (CSAT), which has placed well more than a million Freedom Stickers across the country, including at more than 50,000 convenience stores. The National Human Trafficking Hotline number (888-373-7888) is prominently displayed on the Freedom Stickers.
“I have had customers come in and say, ‘Hey, thanks for [placing stickers in the restrooms].’ We had one lady say, ‘My daughter was trafficked. Thank you so much for having that in there,’” said Couch.
Awareness programs are designed to help people identify—but not confront—traffickers. Instead, train store-level employees to spot the signs that might indicate someone is being trafficked. These include:
- Someone who seems to adhere to a script in social interactions
- People who have matching tattoos/brands
- Someone who shows signs of physical injuries and abuse
- Someone who is being followed too closely by another person
- Someone who lacks official identification documents
Employees who see signs of a potential trafficker are encouraged to collect information and contact law enforcement.
Retailers can also get involved with groups that work to stop human trafficking, including Convenience Stores Against Trafficking (CSAT), National Safe Place Network, Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT), The Department of Homeland Security’s Blue Campaign and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).
Continue reading “How C-Stores Can Fight Human Trafficking” in the December 2025 issue of NACS Magazine. NACS resources to help stop human trafficking can be found here.