GBTA Partners with ECPAT to Fight Child Exploitation in Travel

Earlier today at GBTA Convention, the GBTA Foundation announced it is joining the fight to stop child exploitation by working with ECPAT, the leading anti-trafficking policy organization fighting sex tourism.

The GBTA Foundation will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with ECPAT against the trafficking and exploitation of children. In making this commitment, the GBTA Foundation will work with ECPAT to educate the travel industry about the warning signs of sex tourism and child exploitation. Working together, our industry can make a significant impact in ending child exploitation.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, approximately 100,000 children have been sexually abused and exploited in the United States in the past year, and millions more are exploited around the world.This statistic is both staggering and sobering.Travel infrastructure is sometimes used in trafficking and exploitation, through commercial airlines and buses used to transport children, online classifieds used to lure travelers, and hotel rooms which can be the site of abuse.

GBTA is working to mobilize the travel industry against child exploitation in travel. GBTA is encouraging the business travel industry to adopt and implement ECPAT’s Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct, the only voluntary, industry-driven set of guidelines that focuses on the elimination of child exploitation and trafficking.

Get Involved
Many GBTA Chapters, Affiliates, and Allied member companies have already signed the code and invested time and effort into developing programs to implement its guidelines.

At GBTA Convention, there are four easy ways to join the fight:

• By signing your name on the roaming GBTA boards, which will be located throughout the Convention Center this week.
• By tweeting your support of the code with #ECPAT
• By sending an email to isupportthecode@gbta.org
• By attending an education session Tuesday, End Child Exploitation and Trafficking – Call to Action, at 10 a.m. in room 306AB, and hearing from a panel of experts.

Know the Signs
GBTA is calling on its members to become more aware of the issues and put in place best practices to know the signs and continue to build their knowledge about the issue using the GBTA toolkit available at www.GBTA.org/ECPAT.