Introduction

Child sex trafficking is a problem across the United
States. Children as young as 12 and 13 are integrated
into the sex industry and are bought and sold alongside
adults.
While the hospitality industry is not responsible
for the exploitation, it does have an important role to
play in helping to stop it. Thirteen years ago ECPATUSA
set out to engage the United States travel and
tourism industry in protecting children from sex
trafficking. This report shows the results of that effort.
An evaluation study conducted by the NYU Wagner
Graduate School of Public Service has collected
data demonstrating the results of this work. We now
know that half of all hotels in the U.S. have training
about how to prevent and disrupt child sex trafficking and at least 35% of those have ECPAT-USA training.
Additionally, most hotel properties received training
from their parent companies, which reinforces the
efficacy of partnering with hospitality brands to
reach properties on the ground level.
This impact report described has four sections.
The first is a discussion about why and how ECPATUSA
works with the hospitality industry. The second
section is a description of the resources and tools
that are now available to the hospitality industry
throughout the United States. These have been made
possible because of the industry’s willingness to invest
resources into creating and disseminating them.
The third section is a description of the extent and
impact of training now available to the hospitality
industry in the U.S. The fourth and final section
contains recommendations for how to continue
and expand the success that has been achieved

Read the full report here