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The Hilton hotel group is to publish a global code of conduct for staff that covers child prostitution, after one of its establishments was found to be harbouring a brothel that may have been using children.
Jennifer Silberman, corporate responsibility vice-president at Hilton Worldwide, said the code will ‘specifically address the exploitation of minors’ and emphasise that ‘we absolutely and outright condemn all forms of human trafficking and commercial exploitation, including the sexual exploitation of men, women or children’.
The US-based campaign group change.org says that while Chinese law enforcement officials have not released the ages of those identified in the illegal brothel at the Chongqing Hilton, ‘similar brothels have contained children and human trafficking victims’.
It believes Hilton is not doing enough to prevent child prostitution on its premises and has told supporters to mount a letter-writing campaign to Hilton chief executive Chris Nassetta.
The group says Hilton ‘may be unintentionally facilitating’ child prostitution and urges it to sign up formally to the global Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism.
The six-year-old code has been endorsed by more than 900 companies worldwide, including one of Hilton’s largest rivals, Carlson, owner of the Radisson and Country Inn & Suites brands.
It was developed with the travel industry by Ecpat International, a Bangkok-based network of organizations dedicated to eliminating the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Signatories commit themselves, among other things, to training staff on signs of child prostitution rackets and to raising the issue with suppliers.
Silberman said that although Hilton Worldwide, which runs more than 3500 hotels in 81 countries, had not yet signed up to the code, it is ‘supportive of its principles and objectives’. She said a code of conduct would be issued soon and added: ‘We are exploring other ways in which we can address the issue of human trafficking and exploitation.’
However, change.org says that while some big hotel chains have at least engaged with non-governmental organizations on the prostitution issue, Hilton has shown less enthusiasm.
Large companies now considering ways of combating prostitution include the French-owned Accor group, which trains staff to spot tell-tale signs of sex tourism and to raise customer awareness. Staff receive a brochure on the subject in their induction packs and are taught to recognize suspicious behaviour and to raise concerns with their managers.
In addition, Accor holds awareness workshops with local people and places posters in hotel lobbies stating the penalties for child prostitution and outlining its commitment to protecting children.
In China, police said their investigation into the Chongqing Hilton had uncovered ‘a complete chain’ of people involved in prostitution including hotel managers, security guards, luggage carriers, receptionists and staff.
Jennifer Silberman, corporate responsibility vice-president at Hilton Worldwide, said the code will ‘specifically address the exploitation of minors’ and emphasise that ‘we absolutely and outright condemn all forms of human trafficking and commercial exploitation, including the sexual exploitation of men, women or children’.
The US-based campaign group change.org says that while Chinese law enforcement officials have not released the ages of those identified in the illegal brothel at the Chongqing Hilton, ‘similar brothels have contained children and human trafficking victims’.
It believes Hilton is not doing enough to prevent child prostitution on its premises and has told supporters to mount a letter-writing campaign to Hilton chief executive Chris Nassetta.
The group says Hilton ‘may be unintentionally facilitating’ child prostitution and urges it to sign up formally to the global Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism.
The six-year-old code has been endorsed by more than 900 companies worldwide, including one of Hilton’s largest rivals, Carlson, owner of the Radisson and Country Inn & Suites brands.
It was developed with the travel industry by Ecpat International, a Bangkok-based network of organizations dedicated to eliminating the commercial sexual exploitation of children. Signatories commit themselves, among other things, to training staff on signs of child prostitution rackets and to raising the issue with suppliers.
Silberman said that although Hilton Worldwide, which runs more than 3500 hotels in 81 countries, had not yet signed up to the code, it is ‘supportive of its principles and objectives’. She said a code of conduct would be issued soon and added: ‘We are exploring other ways in which we can address the issue of human trafficking and exploitation.’
However, change.org says that while some big hotel chains have at least engaged with non-governmental organizations on the prostitution issue, Hilton has shown less enthusiasm.
Large companies now considering ways of combating prostitution include the French-owned Accor group, which trains staff to spot tell-tale signs of sex tourism and to raise customer awareness. Staff receive a brochure on the subject in their induction packs and are taught to recognize suspicious behaviour and to raise concerns with their managers.
In addition, Accor holds awareness workshops with local people and places posters in hotel lobbies stating the penalties for child prostitution and outlining its commitment to protecting children.
In China, police said their investigation into the Chongqing Hilton had uncovered ‘a complete chain’ of people involved in prostitution including hotel managers, security guards, luggage carriers, receptionists and staff.
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