By Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON D.C. - Why were hotel giants Hilton, Starwood, Marriott and Carlson mentioned on Capitol Hill Thursday during a hearing on global human trafficking?
In a hearing that Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) called to examine findings in this year's Trafficking in Persons report, he noted that "American chain hotels in China as well as in Mexico have been locations of sex trafficking."
Police raided a five-star Hilton in China last year and found prostitution and other criminal activity in the hotel's independently operated bar, which forced Hilton to briefly close the hotel.
Citing Hilton by name, Smith asked the three State Department officials there to testify to discuss hotels' involvement:
"What are you doing specifically to work with hotel chains including Hilton to make sure they're not complicit in human trafficking? Are we taking any harder line?"
Luis CdeBaca, the State Department's Ambassador-at-Large for trafficking issues since 2009, acknowledged that the hospitality industry does indeed have a "slavery footprint."
But he answered Smith's questions by playing up the positives - and even a reward, rather than pointing out any new measures that the government may be trying to bolster anti-trafficking efforts.
Carlson: Anti-trafficking leader
Carlson Hotels - parent of the Radisson and Country Inn and Suites chains, as well as TGI Friday's casual restaurant chain - is the leader when it comes to anti-trafficking efforts, CdeBaca said.
"We know they're doing their best to fight slavery," he said.
Anti-trafficking groups have praised Carlson for being the first U.S. hotel company to sign the international Code of Conduct to fight child sex trafficking. Among other things, Carlson trains employees for signs of what trafficking situations might look like inside hotels and reports incidents to a special, non-government organization.
Marriott and Starwood: Improving
But while "we've seen leadership from Carlson," CdeBaca said, "we're also seeing leadership in some other ways from hotels."
Marriott and Starwood, he noted, are trying to give trafficking survivors a future by bringing them into training programs in Brazil, Mexico and elsewhere.
"We think the best victim protection is a good job, a safe job," CdeBaca said.
In the wake of Hilton's China scandal
Despite the raid at Hilton's luxury hotel in Chongqing, China, the State Department also gives the company a thumbs up for its response. "Unfortunately, it often takes a scandal to deal with this," CdeBaca remarked.
After the incident, and following months of pressure from social justice advocates such as Change.org, Hilton signed the same code of conduct as Carlson (created by ECPAT International) . As a result of its signing, Hilton received some new business from the State Department.
"We made it very clear to Hilton that that was one of the reasons why we selected the Hilton downtown Miami (for a conference) when we have a choice of a number of properties," he said. "It was in recognition of the fact that they had done so."
"We don't have a rule that this is something we always have to do, but we're looking at it. If there's a Radisson, a Hilton or somebody that's put their money where their mouth is, then we as consumers should reward that type of behavior."
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