Hilton Hotel Says No To Sex Trafficking

What’s worse than being associated with sex tourism? Not being associated with it.

The Hilton Hotel group has finally joined the international anti-trafficking community, promising to sign a code of conduct against sexual exploitation in the tourism industry.

Signatories of the ECPAT Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism, (known simply as “The Code”) agree to train their staff to recognize, report and assist victims of the rampant sex trade.

Initially Hilton refused to sign The Code, in an attempt to avoid associating their brand with child prostitution and trafficking, however such attempts were proven to be in vain after underground brothels were detected in Hilton hotels in China and Ireland.

The move also came after more than 317,000 people signed a petition calling on Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta to sign The Code.

According to activism organization Avaaz, hotels are key sites in the buying and selling of children into sexual slavery. As a result of Hilton signing the code, over 180,000 employees will be trained to identify illicit activity.

Delta became the first major airline to sign The Code in March.

“Some companies fear that associating with the tragic reality of child sex tourism will hurt their corporate brands or public images. The actions of Hilton Worldwide and Delta demonstrate that in fact taking a strong stand against child exploitation and trafficking is good for business,” said Carol Smolenski, executive director of ECPAT’s USA division.

As a prominent figure within the tourism industry Hilton now has the opportunity to fully embrace the objectives of The Code, and act as an example for other hotels to commit to the prevention of child sex trafficking around the world.

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