Question

How hospitality industry in your region should assess their risk and exposure to sexual exploitation and trafficking of children, and make recommendations to them?

Answer 1

ANSWER

Sex Exploitation

According to the International Labor Union, an estimated 4.5 million individuals are forced into sexual labor, with 98 percent of the victims being identified as female. In the United States an estimated 17,500 individuals are trafficked throughout the country annually, with 79 percent of victims being trafficked for sexual activities (U.S. Department of State, 2006).

Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of the United States, sex trafficking is classified as a severe form of trafficking [7]. Female victims of sexual trafficking have been lured into sexual activities through either a pimp or a trafficker they may know, like a boyfriend. Male victims of trafficking are often lured into sexual trafficking due to rejection from family and their local community of their preferences in sexuality .

A Trafficker/Pimp can make $150,000-$200,000 per child each year and the average pimp has four to six girls . The average victim may be forced to have sex up to 20-48 times a day . Fewer than 100 beds are available in the United States for underage victims (Health and Human Services)

Child Trafficing

Traffickers and pimps often prey on victims between the ages of 12 to 14 years old .The Department of State estimated that over one million children are trafficked for sex throughout the world (U.S. Department of State, 2006). Minors between the ages of 14 to 17 in the United States are the largest percentage of juvenile victims who are sold for sexual activities. Victims under the age of 14 represent 11 percent of minors sold for sexual activities in the United States . Child human trafficking victims often live in horrendous conditions and are subject to abuse from their traffickers; additionally they are prone to substantial violence from those involved in trafficking . Children are some of the hardest hit victims of sex trafficking. In some developing countries, child victims are sacrificed to sex trafficking for short-term financial

Awareness and Response to Sex exploitation and child Trafficking in the Hospitality Industry

Tourism and hospitality stakeholders are often unaware of signs and hence might unknowingly contribute to sex trafficking and the transportation of human trafficking victims. The industry needs to better examine how businesses contribute to sex trafficking and sex tourism. The tourism and hospitality industry ultimately has a social responsibility and moral obligation to help stop and prevent sex trafficking. A lack of awareness of human trafficking is an issue that seems to exist across the globe. According to Maria Grazia Giammarinaro, the special representative for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, awareness of human trafficking has increased, but at the same time trafficking has increased as well [46]. One reason awareness has increased is due to new action plans that have been implemented to combat trafficking, along with more legislation and more assistance programs for victims. Giammarinaro also noted that even with increasing awareness, human trafficking still exists because the response to address trafficking is not commensurate with the magnitude of the phenomenon

Tourism and hospitality employees may not be fully aware of how often victims are trafficked through businesses in the industry tourism. Trains, ferries, and airlines have unknowingly transported victims of trafficking, while hotels have provided a venue for traffickers to sell their victims to tourists and other individuals seeking sex services . The United Nations has stressed the need for the tourism and hospitality industry to help with putting a stop to human trafficking . The number one way to help stop sex trafficking, according to the United States Department of State, is to learn the warning signs and red flags of human trafficking and for individuals to ask questions when he or she suspects they have come into contact with a victim of trafficking. To help employees be able to understand the signs, and to know when to ask questions, the Department of State recommends training for businesses, law enforcement, and first responders .

Conclusion

The tourism and hospitality industry plays an unintentional role in sexual trafficking through accommodations and transportation. The tourism and hospitality industry can play a large role minimizing victimization in sex trafficking because of the size of the industry and its global nature. In the academic field, more research is needed to better understand the scope of sex trafficking and the role the hospitality industry plays in it. Future research could also shed more light on the inconclusive evidence we have for the relation of sports tourism and events to sex trafficking, as well as reported cases versus actual cases. Better estimates are needed for specific groups of the population.

As the future of sex tourism evolves to include different areas of sexual activities, stakeholders will need to address new issues that arise. While the effort of tourism and hospitality businesses to create programs helping with awareness and training is applaudable, more needs to be done. Some of the solutions must and should include: setting policies and procedures, training employees, providing information to travelers, and expressing zero tolerance of sexual exploitation in contract throughout the value chain