ECPAT-USA today, announced a new partnership with global hospitality company Marriott International to combat and prevent human trafficking and exploitation in all forms, the addition of Marriott International coincides with National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
“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.
Marriott becoming a member of The Code is the culmination of several years of partnership with ECPAT-USA. 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.
Source – eTurbo News
