Four is one helluva skinny number—the number of U.S organizations that have signed the tourism Code of Conduct (The Code), according to the code.org website. Four if you count Hilton Worldwide (see article), which recently signed The Code to demonstrate their commitment against the commercial sexual exploitation of children. For those of you not familiar with The Code, it is a travel industry driven responsible tourism initiative funded by UNICEF, run by ECPAT International (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes) and supported by the United Nations World Tourism Organization. The Code is aimed at preventing and mitigating child sex trafficking, as well as encouraging a responsible, child-wise tourism industry.
Organizations that sign the code pledge to take the following six steps: establish an ethical policy regarding commercial sexual exploitation of children; train the personnel in the country of origin and travel destinations; introduce a clause in contracts with suppliers, stating a common repudiation of commercial sexual exploitation of children; provide information to travelers by means of catalogs, brochures, in-flight films, ticket slips, home pages, etc.; provide information to local “key persons” at the destinations; and report annually.
While The Code has been signed by almost 1,000 travel industry members worldwide, the United States is dramatically under-represented (the American Hotel & Lodging Assn. website does not address The Code). In addition to Hilton Worldwide, Carlson is the only other U.S. lodging company that has signed The Code. It really is an embarrassment. Costa Rica even has 265 businesses that have signed it. Earlier this year, Marriott International received a lot of publicity after it announced that it would not provide access to adult movies in new hotel rooms it opens over the next several years. Yet it cannot sign The Code? I am not just picking on Marriott here—just about every other U.S. lodging company has also not signed it—but phasing out adult flicks seems like nothing when compared to dealing with the commercial exploitation of children.
No Hotel Company is Immune
I spoke with Carol Smolenski, executive director of ECPAT-USA this past week and she helped me better understand the scope of the child trafficking problem here in the United States and how it relates to hotels. “We estimate there are from 200,000 to 300,000 children at risk in the United States,” she says. In hotels, exploitation of children—teens especially—often occurs in the form of prostitution but not always. “All hotel brands have had this happen in their hotels,” Carol says. “No company is immune.” She says her organization has proof of commercial exploitation of children happening at about 50 hotels in the United States. Of course it happens much more often but the guilty are never caught.
By no means is Carol or anyone else affiliated with The Code accusing any lodging establishment with collaborating with criminals. It is her goal, she says, to help educate our industry about the problem and to provide all the necessary training materials to those companies interested in building awareness of it.
It is not that difficult to spot a problem. “A housekeeper might see child pornography in a guestroom, or see a man sneaking into somebody’s room,” Carol says. “You might see men bringing in young women over and over—individuals under 18 years old. Sometimes a pimp will rent a room and there will be men coming and going all night long.”
‘Extreme Resistance’ in U.S.
Carol says it is only here in the United States where there is “extreme resistance” to signing The Code, a standard currently accepted in 72 countries. Why so? She says there is often fear of litigation—that a company will become more exposed to legal trouble if it takes a strong stand against the exploitation of children. The prospect of litigation has not stopped Hilton and Carlson from taking a strong stance. It should not stop others like them.
With the recent commitment by Hilton, Carol believes the movement against child trafficking has gained some momentum. “We are now in discussion with a couple of other lodging companies,” she says. “Anyone interested in The Code should contact us. We have lots of examples of how to do the six steps. We have a long list of policies that other companies have used. We have training materials. We are always available to help.”
The commercial exploitation of children is a very serious subject and deserving of more “ink” than I can give it here. Be sure to visit the websites linked to in this column for more information. Also be sure to e-mail me your comments to editor@greenlodgingnews.com.
See You at HD Expo & Green Day?
I will be attending HD Expo and its opening Green Day from May 17 to May 20. The events will be held at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas. Click here for details on the events.
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