by: Barbara Stroup, 2017 PCMA Southeast President
What Keeps You Up at Night?
I was recently blessed to have been part of the Rotary International Convention and was educated on the horrors of Human Trafficking.
Our world has a dirty secret that must come to the forefront of all, Human Trafficking. Sadly, our city, Atlanta, one of many cities, and our industry due to our size and organization, provide the perfect environment to assist in the breeding of this horrid situation.
The Blue Campaign website provides us with this powerful description: “Victims of human trafficking can be any age, gender, race, or immigration status; they live in cities, suburbs, and rural areas. Human traffickers relentlessly canvass ways to take advantage of people who find themselves in circumstances of extreme adversity or violence, experience discrimination, economic vulnerability, or dependence. Communities that experience some of these hardships may be particularly vulnerable to human trafficking.”
Human trafficking is a crime against the person because of the violation of the victim’s rights of movement through coercion and because of their commercial exploitation. Human trafficking is the trade in people, especially women and children. Traffickers are capitalizing on the lack of awareness around this issue within the hotel industry. All too often, they continue to exploit their victims unchecked because staff, managers, and executives do not know what to look for.
We should applaud the hotel chains and the airlines that are training their staff to open their eyes to this growing problem, to speak out if something feels or looks wrong. How can we help be a part of this action group to identify victims and help them to become survivors?
Is it time our industry takes on this cause and change an individual’s life or the lives of many? What type of awareness training can we offer to our hospitality segments? Should this topic be a part of our certification training? Let’s start a dialogue!
Links to learn more on Awareness training:
https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/awareness-training
https://humantraffickinghotline.org/
