In a bid to combat human trafficking and the use of hospitality industry by traffickers, over 1 million hotel employees in the United States have been trained as part of a campaign by American hotel industry body to create awareness about human trafficking.

The charitable arm of the US hotel association AHLA or American Hotel and Lodging Association, has announced that its human trafficking awareness trainings have been completed by more than 1 million hotel employees across the US hospitality industry. 

In a press statement, AHLA says that the trainings, funded by the AHLA Foundation, are part of an ongoing industry-wide initiative to combat human trafficking. Further, AHLA is also funding NRFT Survivor Fund grants to four community-based organisations that serve human trafficking survivors.

AHLA says that the trainings were developed by hospitality chains Marriott International and administered by an anti-child trafficking organisation in the US, Patient Aligned Care Team or PACT. The training is a part of an industry-wide initiative to help hotel employees recognise and report signs of potential on-property human trafficking. 

It adds that the hospitality industry is uniquely positioned to disrupt human trafficking, and employee trainings play a critical role in prevention efforts.

A number of leading hotel brands have been sued by victims of sex trafficking, who claimed that the hotel brands benefitted from their trafficking and were aware of the crimes occurring in their premises. According to US law enforcement agencies, about 46 pc commercial sex occurred in premises of hotels and over 60 pc of victims alleged that the they were forced to operate from hotels.

According to the statement, there are two available courses, including Your Role in Preventing Human Trafficking: Recognise the Signs and Recognise and Respond: Addressing Human Trafficking in the Hospitality Industry for Associates and Managers. 

In July, the AHLA Foundation had announced USD 500,000 in inaugural NRFT Survivor Fund grants to four community-based organisations that serve human trafficking survivors. The programme aimed to empower human trafficking survivors with necessary resources towards self-sufficiency, while uniting and inspiring the industry in the continued fight against trafficking. 

AHLA says that the fund has grown to more than USD 3.5 million since last year, and the foundation will match contributions up to USD 5 million dollars to achieve its goal of USD 10 million in total contributions by the end of 2023.  

“More than one million training programs being completed, alongside the USD 500,000 in grants awarded to survivor support, mark encouraging trends that demonstrate the industry’s influence and the power of partnership. There is no finish line, we know we have a long way to go, but it’s clear that awareness and education are critical to chipping away at this global issue,” says Anna Blue, President of AHLA Foundation. 

In the past years, many such cases have come to light where hotel brands owned by hospitality titans Hilton, Intercontinental and Best Western were among a few accused of profiting from sex trafficking. 

A December 2019 report cited a total of 13 women accusing a dozen hotel groups of willfully ignoring warning signs that sexual exploitation was taking place on their premises. In the landmark case, lawyers’ claim demonstrated ‘industry-wide failures’ to prevent sex trafficking. It has been alleged that women and children were held captive, abused and sold for sex in their guest rooms across the US. An estimated 80 pc of all human trafficking arrests occur in or around hotels, the lawsuit claimed.