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.