With the global economic downturn, criminal activity is on the rise. Airlines train their employees to spot potential sex trafficking victims, and to take action — safely. Rona Gindin reports.

At check-in, the ticket counter agent notices a young teenage girl with a man about 40. The man does all the talking, answers all questions, handles the passports. The girl keeps her eyes down. She’s just a grumpy adolescent with her dad, the airline employee assumes … yet something just does not feel right.

That duo could indeed be standard travelers. They could also be a victim and perpetrator of sex trafficking. Air travel is involved in 38% of human trafficking incidents, says Polaris, a Washington, DC-based organization that fights human trafficking.

That means it’s worth training aviation employees to spot potential human trafficking incidents, and to teach them which authorities to contact when a situation looks iffy.

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Before vIITSEC takes place virtually this year, we are taking a look back at last year's conference. From life-size virtual helicopters to a haptic suit that lets soldiers feel faux gunshot wounds, I/ITSEC 2019 demonstrated the rapid evolution of high-tech training aides. Rick Adams, Andy Fawkes, Rona Gindin, Dim Jones, and Marty Kauchak report.