HUMAN TRAFFICKING AWARENESS
Human Trafficking What Business Owners Need to Know Seedy motels. Crime-ridden, rundown neighborhoods. Border towns. In the
minds of many, this is where human trafficking occurs. The gut-wrenching reality, however, is that human trafficking can occur anywhere and in many kinds of businesses. Lodging operations, with their amenities and pre-disposition for discretion and guest privacy, are particularly vulnerable. Also contrary to popular belief, this horrific crime is not concentrated in economy-priced, limited-service lodging properties. Human traffickers operate in every category and across every price point of the lodging industry, from the cheapest to the most luxurious. Awareness of human trafficking tends to focus primarily on sexual exploitation, which is undoubtedly huge. But this focus ignores the equally pervasive trafficking in labor. This form amounts to modern-day slavery and can be found among landscape crews, construction crews, maintenance crews, and agricultural workers. In many of these instances, members of a cleaning or landscaping crew pay traffickers for entry to the U.S. with a job waiting. Once the crew arrives, the traffickers confiscate their victim’s identification and travel documents and force them to hand over pay. Sometimes, the traffickers contract directly with businesses for services, then pay the workers little or nothing. Businesses have a responsibility to raise awareness of these crimes, not only to aid victims and help them become survivors,
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but also to protect the business itself from exposure to criminal prosecution and civil lawsuits. To learn more and to protect your business from traffickers, visit FRLA.org/ human-trafficking and get online training for your supervisors and employees. Five Quick Steps to Combat Human Trafficking
1. Display posters in staff and guest areas explaining how to report suspicions of human trafficking by calling law enforcement at 911 or the 24-hour National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888. 2. Provide information cards with human trafficking indicators to your employees. 3. Use Blue Campaign anti-trafficking materials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. 4. Avoid purchasing from sources known or believed to use child or forced labor by consulting the U.S. Department of Labor’s list of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor. 5. Train your staff and supervisors using FRLA’s Human Trafficking Awareness online course. For a deeper dive in to what you can do, review these 15 Ways You Can Help Fight Human Trafficking from the U.S. Department of State.
“Having taken this training course, I’m very proud of FRLA’s strong engagement on this critical issue. No business in hospitality is safe from the scourge of traffickers, regardless of category or price point. Raising your staff awareness can literally save lives and ensure Florida continues to enjoy its reputation as the premier destination for family vacationers.” — Kevin Speidel, Chair, 2018 FRLA Board of Directors
“I personally completed the FRLA Human Trafficking Awareness online course and recommend all hospitality businesses consider having their employees do so. This demonstrates our commitment as an industry to ensure our frontline employees are equipped to be part of the solution to this terrible crime while also protecting our individual businesses from victimization by traffickers.” — Danielle
Rosse, President, FRLA Broward Chapter
F LO R I DA R ESTAU R A N T & LO D G I N G A S SO CI AT I O N