Human Trafficking and the Event Industry

Jan 13

Human trafficking is a worldwide crisis that targets the hospitality industry. It is critical for us to raise awareness of this issue so that meeting planners and suppliers can begin to fight against traffickers and thwart efforts to prey upon victims at events.

We spoke with Brittany Peck, Training Events Specialist at Shared Hope International, to learn more about the trafficking industry, why traffickers look to strike at events, and how we can best partner with law enforcement and others so that it doesn’t happen on our watch.

What are the most common types of human trafficking?

The most common types of human trafficking are labor trafficking and sex trafficking. Labor trafficking occurs when a person is being forced to work against their will. Sex trafficking occurs when someone uses force, fraud or coercion to cause a commercial sex act with an adult or causes a minor to commit a commercial sex act. Shared Hope International works to eradicate sex trafficking, primarily to prevent, restore and bring justice to survivors of child sex trafficking in the United States.

Generally, who are traffickers?

Traffickers, also sometimes referred to as “pimps,” are those that exploit a victim in exchange for revenue from a buyer. Traffickers use many different methods to lure and manipulate victims into sex trafficking and eventually control a victim with isolation, violence and threats. It’s important to point out that traffickers are capitalizing on the economic principle of supply and demand. We often think of traffickers as the main perpetrators of the crime of sex trafficking, but the actions of buyers are just as devastating in keeping this market alive. In fact, without the demand of buyers, the market for sex trafficking would not exist. This is why increasing awareness of sex trafficking is so important.

What kinds of trends related to sex trafficking are we seeing in the United States specifically?

Shared Hope International launched the Stop the InJUSTice Campaign to raise awareness about the criminalization of child sex trafficking victims. Unfortunately, 27 states still allow children, victims of sex trafficking, to be charged with prostitution for their victimization. It is our goal to change these state laws so that victims of child sex trafficking have access to trauma-informed services and are not punished for the crimes committed against them.

What are some of the challenges that you face in your work to end human trafficking?

One of our biggest challenges is awareness. Thousands of children are bought and sold each year in America, most commonly between the ages of 14-16. Most Americans are unaware of this threat, assuming that sex trafficking happens in other countries. It’s vital to raise awareness in every community and industry because awareness goes hand in hand with prevention. People can help prevent trafficking in their communities and businesses by recognizing the signs and reporting suspected cases of trafficking.

Why do traffickers tend to target events?

Events bring buyers to an area where there might not be as much demand on a regular basis. When a trafficker knows that an event is coming to a city they are able to prepare by recruiting new victims and posting ads online. This is also referred to as sex tourism. In addition to an increase in demand, many cities are unprepared to address sex trafficking during an event. They might not have a multidisciplinary team established between law enforcement, service providers, and the media to address an increase in sex trafficking activity in their area.

What do we in the hospitality industry need to know about human trafficking? What should we be aware of?

Due to sex tourism and the nature of sex trafficking, the hospitality industry is likely to encounter sex trafficking. The organization Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) conducted a study of trafficking cases prosecuted in the state of Washington over a three-year period and showed that 63% of the police reports cited hotels and/or motels as the location of the crime.

Shared Hope International has a guide for the understanding the Warning Signs of Sex Trafficking created specifically for hospitality professionals (CLICK IMAGE BELOW FOR PDF). This guide is for those that might have brief interactions with victims of sex trafficking whether it is at a front desk of a hotel or in the lobby of a public event. This guide can be posted in administrative offices and shared with facility management teams. Knowing the signs will make you better equipped to alert authorities should you encounter trafficking.

What can we do in the hospitality industry about human trafficking?

Most cities will take on the responsibility of establishing a plan of action to address sex trafficking during city wide events, like the Super Bowl. If you happen to be on a planning committee for a city-wide event, we suggest you read Promising Practices in Combatting Juvenile Sex Trafficking Surrounding Large Events and Beyond. The study outlines the plans and lessons learned during the 2015 Super Bowl in the greater Phoenix area and the 2016 Super Bowl in the California Bay area. For large events that aren’t necessarily city wide, there are still actions you can take as an event planner to promote awareness amongst your team, industry partners and attendees.

HERE ARE NEXT STEPS THAT EVENT PLANNERS CAN TAKE:

When you are contracting for a new facility and/or hotel(s) check to see if they are members of The Code (www.thecode.org) or “The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism.” The Code works to address the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) in the tourism industry by training members to recognize and prevent signs of abuse and to establish a zero-tolerance policy. If they aren’t a member, consider asking them to join. Encourage your CVB representative to join to promote city wide engagement.
Ask your CVB to connect you with a representative from local law enforcement or a human trafficking task force. Ask them what their standard messaging is on trafficking and understand their approach. Maintaining cohesive messaging that is unique to the region is important.
Help your team understand the signs of sex trafficking. Encourage them to review Shared Hope International’s resources on the “Warning Signs of Child Sex Trafficking” and “What is Sex Trafficking?”. Ask your security and temp staff to also review these articles.
In your team’s Emergency Plan, list the National Human Trafficking Hotline 1-888-373-7888 – a toll-free hotline available 24/7.
Review Shared Hope’s “Protected Innocence Challenge” report and find out how the state’s laws on child sex trafficking scored. Consider calling the state legislators, you can reference Shared Hope International’s guide, “How to Call your Legislator,” to express your concerns about hosting your event in their city based on their state’s grade.
Consider promoting awareness amongst your attendees. This may be challenging depending on your event, but if you are able, promoting awareness amongst your attendees can help decrease demand.

Here are some ways you can increase awareness for your attendees:

Submit a request for training from an anti-trafficking organization like Shared Hope International, to host a webinar for your attendees pre-event.
Adding an element of giving at a conference is very relevant for today’s events. Consider collecting supplies for a local women’s or men’s shelter. Use this an opportunity to educate your attendees about sex trafficking.
Promote your facility and/or hotels as members of The Code.
Encourage your attendees to download the app TraffickCam (traffickcam.com). TraffickCam allows you to upload photos of your hotel room so that investigators can use them as a resource when trying to locate where victims have been trafficked in online ads posted by traffickers.

By educating your city, facilities, staff and attendees you can help us raise awareness about sex trafficking, promote prevention and fight demand.