HUMAN TRAFFICKING: “A Crime Against Humanity“
BY JUDY BYRON, OP
While in the restroom of the Savannah, Georgia airport recently, I saw a sign in bold red type that asked: “Are you or someone you know being sold for sex or made/forced to work for little or no pay and cannot leave?” It gave a 1-800 number to call. The sign took me back 25 years ago, to when the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) assembly called women religious everywhere to address human trafficking.
One of the most impactful ways in which women religious and the Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment (NWCRI) members have addressed human trafficking is by using our investments to press corporations to prevent human trafficking in their operations. We began with the tourism industry, specifically hotels and airlines.
Using “The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism” (The Code)— which provides awareness, tools, and support to the tourism industry to prevent the sexual exploitation of children—in 2005 we filed a shareholder resolution with Marriott International, Inc. In 1999, Marriott receptionists in San José, Costa Rica were found to be part of a network at several hotels involved in the sexual exploitation of minors.
The resolution requested that the company adopt a policy prohibiting the sexual exploitation of minors on Marriott premises. It resulted in dialogue between shareholders and Marriott representatives. In 2006, the company adopted a human rights policy statement that includes human trafficking and forced labor. In November 2016, Marriott reported that human trafficking training for all associates in its 6,000 hotels would be required. The company also signed The Code in 2018.
Training on human trafficking, including both labor and sex trafficking, is a brand standard at Hyatt hotels, due, in part,
to the work of NWCRI and Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) shareholders. In 2010, NWCRI wrote to the Hyatt’s global head of corporate responsibility (GHCR) concerning “Hyatt’s responsibility as a world-class hotel brand to address the egregious issue of child sex trafficking.” Over five years of dialogue, Hyatt took its responsibility seriously and began partnering with organizations addressing human trafficking and implementing training, which is now mandatory for all employees.
Hyatt signed The Code on Human Rights Day 2015. In August of that year, the GHCR expressed appreciation for shareholders’ guidance on human trafficking. She said that we helped her to see the hotel’s responsibility in addressing human trafficking and she recognized that the training provided for employees makes a difference beyond the hotel.
We also engaged with the airline industry, which can unwittingly facilitate the trafficking of persons. In 2010, we began a dialogue with Delta Airlines, which indicated its willingness to sign The Code. To ensure Delta followed through, NWCRI and our colleagues filed a shareholder resolution, which we withdrew when Delta became the first U.S. airline to sign The Code.
Sister Valerie Heinonen of Mercy Investments praised Delta, saying, “While so many companies are loathe to even mention the term ’human trafficking’ for fear of tarnishing their public image, Delta finally understood that the only way to shed light on this odious crime is to confront it head on.”
The work that we committed ourselves to 25 years ago continues today. The 2021 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery 1 indicate that there are 50 million people in modern slavery. We believe that what we label as “human trafficking” and Pope Francis calls a “crime against humanity” will be eradicated when we work in solidarity. For, as Pete Seeger sings, one person’s hands can’t tear a prison down, “but if two and two and fifty make a million. We’ll see that day come round.”
1. https://www.ilo.org/sitesdefault/files/wcmsp5/groups public/@ ed_norm/@ipec/documents/publication/wcms_854795.pdf