Many tourism stakeholders, both from the private or public sector were disappointed when the new secretary-general of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashvili, canceled the annual meeting at ITB of the World Tourism Network on Child Protection. The group had met since 1995 at every ITB.

This disappointment, however, turned into a good day on Friday when it comes to child protection after all. Not only did SKAL International sign THE CODE, but the first meeting of a special interest group on child protection met at ITB Berlin today. This special interest group for child protection was formed under the umbrella of the International Coalition of Tourism Partners (ICTP).

Juergen Steinmetz, chairman of ICTP and publisher of the eTN Group of publications, is a long-time member of this group and responded to UNWTO’s cancellation in forming a special interest group on child protection. This group and those interested in child protection today met in Berlin at ITB. The event was hosted by Deepak R. Joshi, CEO of the Nepal Tourism Board, at their stand.

 
 Steinmetz said: “I am very pleased to see such a great response to our call for a meeting here at ITB. I would like to thank our friends at the Nepal Tourism Board for their support in hosting our meeting today and hope this will be only one of many more.

“We will provide our own stand at the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai and IMEX in Frankfurt for the Special Interest Group on Child Protection to meet.

“I hope the new UNWTO leadership will cooperate with our effort on this important initiative. I am pleased to hear child protection will be on the agenda set by the UNWTO Secretary-General for the upcoming executive council meeting of the Americas.

“Finally, I am encouraging anyone wanting to add to our initiative or send us statements, best practices, and news on child protection to do so. It’s important for the world to stay informed and allow good initiatives to be repeated.”

Joanna Rubinstein from Childhood USA related: “There is a great momentum after the Solutions Summit to End Violence Against Children in Stockholm last month. Around 60 governments participated in the meeting that was hosted by the Swedish government and the Prime Minister and HM Queen Silvia, the founder of Childhood. Also the DSG of the UN, Amina Mohammed, joined the meeting together with the new heads of UNICEF and WHO.

By becoming a member of The Code, SKAL joined industry leaders when it comes to responsible tourism. The Code (short for “The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism”) is a multi-stakeholder initiative with the mission to provide awareness, tools, and support to the tourism industry to prevent the sexual exploitation of children.

The commercial sexual exploitation of children involves the buying and selling of children under 18 years of age for sexual purposes. Sexual exploitation of children in tourism, child sex trafficking, the prostitution of children, and child pornography are all forms of this crime.

Commercial sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism often takes place in hotels and uses other travel infrastructure. That’s why The Code believes that working with responsible tourism companies is a powerful way to keep children safe and prevent these crimes.

CALL YOUR SENATORS

On Thursday, March 8 (International Women’s Day), we need a barrage of positive calls to Senate members. Please call 202-225-3121 and you will be transferred to your Senator’s office.

Sample script for call: “My name is ___ and I live in _____ (State). I am calling to thank Senator ______ for supporting the FOSTA-SESTA package and I am calling to confirm that she/he will vote YES so that survivors and states finally will have the legal tools to hold websites accountable for knowingly facilitating human trafficking. Thank you.”

RAISE AWARENESS ON SOCIAL MEDIA — SAMPLE TWEETS AND POSTS

• As International Women’s Day approaches, let’s help @senrobportman @SenBlumenthal bring #FOSTA #SESTA, which will provide a pathway for justice for thousands of women, to the @USSenate for a vote: https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=press-releases&id=4F1678C3-3EF2-4E19-95E4-D075060BDE6D #MyFreedomDay #IWD2018 #IamJaneDoe #ListenToSurvivors

• Cheering @senrobportman @SenBlumenthal @clairecmc @SenJohnMcCain @SenatorHeitkamp @JohnCornyn & 66 co-sponsors moving #FOSTA #SESTA to Senate Floor @SenateMajLdr @chuckschumer which will benefit thousands of women. #IWD2018 #PressforProgress #IamJaneDoe #ListenToSurvivors

• Thanks @senrobportman @SenBlumenthal @clairecmc @SenJohnMcCain @SenatorHeitkamp and 66 co-sponsors moving #FOSTA #SESTA to Senate Floor @SenateMajLdr @chuckschumer which will benefit thousands of women. #IWD2018 #PressforProgress #IamJaneDoe #ListenToSurvivors #MyFreedomDay

• Please call your Senator today at 202-225-3121 to vote YES on #FOSTA #SESTA: https://vimeo.com/249095210 #ListenToSurvivors #IamJaneDoe #MyFreedomDay #IWD2018

• @SenateMajLdr @chuckschumer please bring #FOSTA #SESTA to Senate floor for a vote. It will allow thousands of victims and survivors to hold websites facilitating sex trafficking accountable. #ListenToSurvivors #IamJaneDoe #MyFreedomDay #IWD2018 https://vimeo.com/249095210

Follow and tag ECPAT-USA

Outdated laws and weak legal enforcement are increasing the risk of the sexual exploitation of children across Southeast Asia says a new report.

Traditional elements of the sexual exploitation of children, such as child marriage and human trafficking continue to be an issue, says NGO ECPAT International’s “The Sexual Exploitation of Children in Southeast Asia,” which explores the phenomena in 11 countries in the region. However, the report says that this has been aggravated in recent years by a low level of awareness about the issue, along with increased regional tourism and the proliferation of the internet

“The rapid growth in tourism exacerbates the sexual exploitation of children in the region,” says the study. “Further exacerbating the situation has been the dramatic development in Internet and communications technologies, which have increased and diversified opportunities to sexually exploit children, or to profit from the sexual exploitation of children.”

ECPAT says that underlying these risk factors is a weak legal infrastructure in many Southeast Asian countries, which is allowing offenders to act with impunity. And it is not just foreigners who are to blame, perpetrators today are largely from the region. “Although tourists from Western countries are still a significant problem, it is a popular misconception that they constitute the majority of child sex offenders,” says Rangsima Deesawade, ECPAT’s Regional Coordinator for Southeast Asia. “Most offences in Southeast Asia are committed by nationals of countries in the region or other parts of Asia.”

According to the new study, whilst traditional tourism destinations such as Thailand and the Philippines continue to pose a threat to children, due to cheap travel and accommodation options, other countries such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Viet Nam have become popular hotpots for child sex offenders.

The report also highlights the increasing danger posed by expanding access to the Internet, which it says is imperiling children and placing them at greater risk of abuse and exploitation. It claims that the production of online child sexual abuse material in the Philippines now generates up to US$1 billion of annual revenue; some countries in the region have been identified as major hosts of child sexual abuse images; and in Lao PDR, some CD shops openly sell child sexual abuse material.

“The threat of online sexual abuse is something faced by children around the world,” says Deesawade. “And as Southeast Asia becomes increasingly connected, it becomes more connected to this global problem.”

It remains all quiet at the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Madrid. So quiet, that reaching out to media relations at the agency has become a challenge and is met with silence when it comes to eTN. Is it all about speaking out on UNWTO last minute missing outreach at  ITB Berlin on child protection?

After UNWTO unexpectedly canceled the traditional yearly meeting of the Executive Task Group for Child Protection, this wire reached out to members of this group. The overall response was a disappointment by many of the participants and UNWTO member countries, but there was also hope.

The good news is, protecting children that are abused and trafficked through tourism remains a priority in many countries and for many organizations. This was also an assurance mentioned by UNWTO in the letter to the executive task group member when canceling the ITB Berlin meeting.

In a letter received by this wire from Uruguay by Dr. Magdalena Montero, Mr. Jorge Morandeira, leaders of the Regional Action Group of the Americas (GARA), echoed the regret all members of this group had about the unknown cancellation of their yearly ITB meeting.

The message said : “But we must indicate that although face-to-face meetings are essential to promote the prevention of these crimes, the new technologies allow the interconnection through video conferences in different supports, which in some measure supplement the face-to-face meetings and are a measure of savings for our economies, always so in need of funds. In our region, we hold monthly video conferences, we believe it would be a good measure that could be imitated at the level of these meetings held in Berlin.”

“This is an excellent point,” said Juergen Steinmetz, publisher of this wire and  UNWTO Child Protection Executive Task Group member. “I will ask UNWTO to facilitate such video meetings. Hopefully, this would be worth a response.”

The Uruguay Minister told this wire: “We would like to inform you that on the occasion of a meeting of Minister Kechichian with the Secretary-General of the UNWTO, Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili, within the framework of FITUR in Madrid, the issue of prevention was discussed, and it was agreed that it will be one of the topics to be discussed at the next meeting of the UNWTO Commission of America, the 63rd meeting, which will be held in Asunción Paraguay on April 12 and 13. For this, we are working with the National Secretary of Tourism Senator of Paraguay and with the UNWTO. And it will be one of the topics that will be discussed in the international seminar.”

So far, however, the members of the UNWTO task group were not invited or informed about such plans.

As confirmed to this wire by ECPAT, the ECPAT World Summit set for the month of June in Colombia will be another global platform to discuss this issue.

Dr. Magdalena Montero and Mr. Jorge Morandeira representing the Regional Action Group of the Americas (GARA) in Uruguay acknowledged: “The protection of children is an issue that challenges us all, and for prevention, we are working from our respective responsibilities. Best regards, and we are at your service from the Executive Secretary of GARA.”

Steinmetz said: “The idea of a frequent video or phone meetings is something I would support. It remains that canceling public outreach at a global travel industry event at the upcoming ITBnext month sends the wrong message to our global travel and tourism communities, and the wrong message to the traveling public. It leaves those that wanted to share their yearly activities and showcase their initiatives and challenges to the ITB audience in the dark.”

“As a SKAL member, I applaud the initiative by SKAL Germany to include the signing of The Code at the ITB gettogether.”

“Protecting children remains very much alive in the travel and tourism world, and every responsible member of the global travel and tourism industry should make child protection a priority. UNWTO is supposed to be the leader in our industry, and I remain hopeful they will come around and show this leadership and set a positive example and guidance for our industry”, said Steinmetz.” As a UNWTO member state, the minister of tourism in Uruguay is setting this example today.”

Action by Leading International Hotel Chain Highlights National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

ECPAT-USA, the country’s leading anti-child trafficking policy organization, announced a new partnership with global hospitality company Marriott International to combat and prevent human trafficking and exploitation in all forms. Marking National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, Marriott International signed ECPAT-USA’s Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct (The Code), an industry-driven responsible tourism initiative with a mission to provide awareness, tools, and support to the travel and hospitality industry in order to prevent the sexual exploitation of children.

“Everyone has a role in fighting human trafficking and preventing child sexual exploitation,” said David Rodriguez, Executive Vice President and Global Chief Human Resources Officer, Marriott International. “At Marriott International, we are training all of our associates on how to identify the indicators of human trafficking and partnering with ECPAT-USA and the broader industry to stop this crime from landing at our front doors and in our communities.”

“We are honored to partner with Marriott International to fight child sex trafficking and exploitation in all forms,” said Carol Smolenski, Executive Director of ECPAT-USA. “With ECPAT-USA’s policies and training in place, Marriott’s associates will be able to identify and report potential cases of trafficking and bring protection to victims. As an iconic brand, Marriott International’s deep commitment to human rights and social responsibility will generate public awareness and support for the growing movement to end child sex trafficking.”

The signing represents the latest development in ECPAT-USA’s collaboration with Marriott. In 2011, ECPAT-USA partnered with Marriott to co-develop training to help hotel employees recognize the indicators for human trafficking, including the commercial sexual exploitation of children. More recently, they partnered with the American Hotel and Lodging Association to make comprehensive human trafficking training available to the hotel industry more broadly. In January 2017, Marriott adopted a mandatory human trafficking training requirement for its on-property workforce across more than 6,500 properties in 127 countries and territories. The company has so far trained more than 225,000 people who wear a Marriott badge. Now, the global hotel company is taking its commitment a step further by signing The Code and establishing ECPAT-USA as a strategic partner in raising awareness of trafficking across its portfolio of 30 leading hotel brands including The Ritz-Carlton, W Hotels, Westin Hotels & Resorts, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Aloft Hotels, and more.

The hotel industry is a crucial partner in the fight to end child sex trafficking because traffickers are known to use travel infrastructure to conduct their crimes and abuse victims. With proper protocols and training, hotel associates are uniquely positioned to identify, report and bring protection to victims.

For more than 25 years, ECPAT-USA has been fighting to protect every child’s basic human right to grow up free from the threat of sexual exploitation and trafficking. One of the organization’s most critical initiatives to protect children is engagement with the tourism and hospitality industry.

ECPAT partners with travel industry leaders to sign The Code, a set of guidelines to protect children from exploitation. Marriott International is the latest to join a family of notable U.S. airlines, hotels, travel management companies, and other brands partnering with ECPAT-USA to lead the private sector response to trafficking. Together, these industry leaders reduce the channels in which traffickers operate.

As a member of The Code and its efforts to end child sex trafficking, Marriott International will implement the following six criteria:

Establish a corporate policy and procedures against sexual exploitation of children

Train employees in children’s rights, the prevention of sexual exploitation and how to report suspected cases

Include a clause in further partner contracts stating a common repudiation and zero tolerance policy of sexual exploitation of children

Provide information to travelers on children’s rights, the prevention of sexual exploitation of children and how to report suspected cases

Support, collaborate and engage stakeholders in the prevention of sexual exploitation of children

Report annually on the company’s implementation of Code-related activities

All US Driver Partners to Receive In-App Resources to Help Identify and Report Suspected Cases

Pledging its commitment to help end human trafficking, Uber has partnered with ECPAT-USA and other leading organizations to provide education and awareness to ALL driver-partners across the United States.

Human trafficking often affects the most vulnerable in our communities, whether adults, teens, or children. It is a problem that impacts all cities and all forms of transportation. For National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, Uber will provide information on trafficking to U.S. drivers via an in-app message. The message includes tips on how to spot potential human trafficking and ways to report it. Additional educational information developed with partners like ECPAT-USA will be made available to drivers on Uber’s website.

“Uber connects millions of people daily all around the globe, and drivers are uniquely positioned to help identify and ultimately prevent human trafficking,” said Tracey Breeden, Uber Safety Communications. “Working together with our national partners, we will utilize our innovation and technology along with the scope and scale of our global community to commit to helping prevent and raise awareness and empower community heroes. Together we can help disrupt and end human trafficking in the cities we serve.”

“As soon as Uber’s Safety team learned about the role they could play in protecting children, they took action,” said Carol Smolenski, Executive Director of ECPAT-USA. “We applaud their commitment to preventing human trafficking of any kind on the platform and sharing educational materials that help prepare drivers to recognize the signs associated with the sexual exploitation of children.”

Since 2016, Uber has worked with ECPAT-USA to develop resources for drivers to help identify and report human trafficking. Uber is the first and only company in the on-demand space to sign The Code, ECPAT-USA’s responsible business initiative to protect children from trafficking. Now, Uber will be proactively providing a way for driver-partners to be aware of and feel comfortable reaching out to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.

In December 2016, a Sacramento area driver helped a girl, 16, escape from a human trafficking operation. He noticed suspicious behavior during a trip and reported it to police. From Phoenix to Philadelphia, drivers have been credited with helping break up operations and aiding victims of human trafficking.

Visit Uber’s human trafficking driver resource page.

Meet Keith, the Uber driver-partner whose awareness and quick thinking helped him save a 16-year-old girl from trafficking.

Jakarta, Thursday 1st February 2018 – The ChildSafe Movement, an award-winning
global movement protecting children from all forms of abuse, launches in Bali with the
support of renowned travel organization Buffalo Tours Indonesia. Together they seek to
improve child protection and sustainable tourism on the “Island of the Gods”.

Travel Bali, Be ChildSafe. Follow the 7 Tips & protect children on your journey.
#BaliChildSafeParadise

With the support of Buffalo Tours, acclaimed social enterprise Friends-International are
delighted to announce the launch of the ChildSafe Movement in Bali. Together with Yayasan
Teman Baik, their local Indonesian program helping marginalized children, youth and their
families, the ChildSafe Movement raises awareness of child protection among all tourism
industry stakeholders, including promoting tourist behaviors and actions that will prevent risk
to children and effectively protect them. ChildSafe activities will include international media
and grassroots campaigning, educating tourists, as well as training and certifying businesses.

The result is a unique local and international network empowered to stand up against the
exploitation of vulnerable children in the tourism industry.

ChildSafe’s Traveler Tips and campaigns provide practical advice to tourists on better ways
to help protect children. Large-scale awareness raising campaigns and initiatives increase the
global response to child rights violations and further protect children from harm. These
campaigns, including “Children Are Not Tourist Attractions”, aimed at addressing the
alarming growth of orphanage and school tourism, have already reached millions of
individuals across the world and are supported and promoted by UNICEF and the United
Nations World Tourism Organization.

Through following ChildSafe Certification process, Buffalo Tours are at the forefront of the
growing international recognition of the importance of implementing child protection within the
tourism industry. Buffalo Tours have offered their assistance in the form of facilities and logistic
support, to help ChildSafe implement their campaign in Bali. They have also mobilized their
staff, Destination Ambassadors and suppliers to further enhance their commitment to child
protection.

Buffalo Tours now join the hundreds of other ChildSafe Alliance Partners, Supporters and
Certified Businesses around the world, all easily identified by their use of the characteristic
‘thumbs up’ logo! They are also listed on the ChildSafe website, a comprehensive resource
and source of information for all to ensure a global approach to child protection which
includes the important ‘7 Tips for Travelers’.

ECPAT, a network of organizations working to tackle the sexual exploitation of children, has been presented with a prestigious award by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) at a ceremony held in Lyon, France today.

The “Crimes Against Children” Award from INTERPOL’s Crimes Against Children team recognizes the more than two decades that ECPAT has worked to prevent child sexual exploitation and advocate for its victims – particularly through programs to confront trafficking for sexual purposes; the exploitation of children through prostitution and pornography; online child sexual exploitation; and the sexual exploitation of children in the travel and tourism sector.

Accepting the award, Dorothy Rozga, ECPAT’s Executive Director, paid tribute to the organization’s 103 members working in 93 countries. “Through research, advocacy, the provision of direct services to children, awareness raising and campaigning – members of the ECPAT network are making a positive difference to the lives of children.”

“Due to the clandestine nature of child sexual exploitation, reliable data is difficult to come by,” she said. “Nevertheless, we know that the number of victims is huge and that very often these children suffer in silence.”

Rozga emphasized that over the years ECPAT has learned the importance of involving all stakeholders in addressing the crime of child sexual exploitation. “It is absolutely essential to adopt a multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder approach,” she said. “We work with a wide range of actors, from the private sector – including hotels, Internet and tech companies, travel agents, airlines – to governments, the UN, and other NGOs. This is why we place such a high value on our collaboration with INTERPOL and other law enforcement agencies.”

“This award is a recognition of the excellent work done by ECPAT to end the sexual exploitation of children around the world,” said Bjorn Sellstrom, head of INTERPOL’s Crimes Against Children team. “We look forward to continuing our joint efforts with ECPAT to protect the most vulnerable members of society from abuse and further develop awareness of this global issue.”

Previous recipients of the award have included Mads Nielsen, a world leader in victim identification helped to safeguard hundreds of children, and Anders Persson, the father of the INTERPOL International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) image database.