WASHINGTON—American Lodge & Lodging Affiliation (AHLA) Interim President and CEO Kevin Carey launched the next assertion after the introduction of the Halting of Trafficking and Exploitation in Lodging Act, or the HOTEL Act, which inspires federal employees touring for enterprise to remain at lodges with anti-human trafficking packages.
“The HOTEL Act acknowledges the essential function lodges play within the combat towards human trafficking, and we’re proud to help this necessary laws,” mentioned Carey. “We stay up for working with Reps. Smith and Krishnamoorthi and lawmakers throughout the Home and Senate to move this laws.”
The Halting of Trafficking and Exploitation in Lodging Act, or the HOTEL Act, was launched by Reps. Chris Smith, R-N.J., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Sick. It could encourage federal employees touring for enterprise to remain at lodges with anti-human trafficking packages.
To qualify below the invoice, lodge coaching have to be developed in session with both a state authorities, human trafficking survivors, survivor-led anti-trafficking organizations, or any group that’s nationally acknowledged for its experience on this space—for example, the AHLA Basis.
AHLA, its members, and the AHLA Basis are dedicated to trafficking prevention:
- Since 2019, the No Room for Trafficking (NRFT) initiative has supported trafficking-prevention coaching for lodge workers via a partnership with PACT (previously ECPAT-USA).
- These free coaching modules assist lodge employees perceive what to search for and the way to reply to indicators of trafficking whereas explaining how one can show human trafficking indicator signage in lodges, set up company-wide insurance policies, coordinate with legislation enforcement, and share success tales and greatest practices.
- The introductory coaching has been taken greater than 1.8 million occasions up to now, and hundreds are educated yearly. These numbers don’t embrace further anti-trafficking coaching efforts by AHLA members, which differ in size and frequency.
- The AHLA Basis in 2022 introduced expanded efforts to help trafficking survivors via the trade’s first-ever Survivor Fund, which has raised $3.7 million since its inception.
- As a part of its continued dedication to combatting this difficulty, AHLA Basis is matching NRFT Survivor Fund contributions as much as $5 million {dollars} (with an general aim of $10 million in complete contributions).
“By means of the AHLA Basis’s No Room for Trafficking initiative, the lodge trade is united within the effort to stop human trafficking and help survivors,” mentioned AHLA Basis President Anna Blue. “The collective influence of the trade can speed up revolutionary human trafficking prevention efforts and upstream methods to make a constructive distinction within the communities the place we work and reside.”
