Fight trafficking
Hotels are hubs for sexual exploitation. Texas must do more to combat it.
The Comfort Inn & Suites in the 6600 block of Southwest Freeway is touted on one travel website for its prime location, “just minutes from the world famous Galleria Shopping Mall and a diverse variety of elegant cuisines.” On another, it boasts a “sparkling outdoor pool.”
But in a lawsuit filed against the hotel’s parent company, Choice Hotels International, in late December, a sex-trafficking survivor — identified as Jane Doe #6 — says she was trafficked at the Comfort Inn in 2016 by a pimp, who sold her there to johns for more than a week. She was a 15-year-old high school student.
Choice Hotels failed to alert authorities, intervene or take steps to improve awareness of sex trafficking, the lawsuit alleges. “This failure lead (sic) to Jane Doe’s continued sexual exploitation and sexual assault while Choice Hotels turned a blind eye to the plague of human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of minors at their location.”
Two other lawsuits, accusing Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and Wyndham Hotels and Resorts Inc. of not doing enough to prevent sex trafficking at their franchises, were also filed by women identified by police as trafficking victims at Houston hotels owned by the chains.
While hotels profited, “untold multitudes of victims were repeatedly raped and abused,” the lawsuit against Choice Hotel alleges, “these victims have been left with lifelong physical, emotional, and mental injuries.”
Think about that. Most of us are well aware of Houston’s reputation as a hub for sex trafficking, but it is far too easy to assume it’s happening somewhere we would never go. In a downtrodden corner. In a neighborhood plagued by drugs and crime. In a shady massage parlor or seedy motel.
The truth is it happens right in our midst. In suburban malls, online forums and high school campuses. Hotels, in particular, are often the nexus for exploitation.
According to Polaris, a leading antitrafficking organization, 3,596 cases of human trafficking involving a hotel or motel had been recorded through its National Human Trafficking Hotline from December 2007 through December 31, 2017. About 75 percent of survivors surveyed reported coming into contact with hotels at some point.
“A lot of people think of trafficking as women tied in ropes and chains, or kept in prisonlike scenarios, but really trafficking looks like prostitution. Wherever you have prostitution, you have a high likelihood of trafficked women,” David Gamboa, communications director for Elijah Rising, a Houston nonprofit that works to help sex-trafficking victims, told the editorial board. “A lot of hotels have to recognize that there is a high likelihood that there is trafficking going on in their building because it’s basically private bedrooms.”
Many pimps also stay in nicer hotels with their victims while using cheaper motels as sites for trafficking.
In an undercover sting conducted by Elijah Rising, a 16-year-old girl was able to rent motel rooms without an ID, and in one case was helped by a front-desk clerk who charged an extra $10 to produce a fake ID.
“It’s not a secret they know that sex trafficking is a problem — they say so on their websites, and they make representations to the public that they’re doing everything they can to prevent it,” Annie McAdams, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the Houston lawsuits, told the Chronicle. “They’re not doing enough.”
A number of similar lawsuits alleging inaction by hotels have been filed across the country. In Columbus, Ohio, attorneys have asked a federal panel to consolidate 21 lawsuits filed in 11 states. One of those filings claims a hotel overlooked signs of trafficking, including trash cans full of condoms, cash payments for room and turning away housekeeping staff.
At least one of the chains named in the Houston lawsuit, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, is working with Polaris to develop training and human-trafficking awareness tools for hotel owners and franchisees. Marriott International also launched a worldwide human rights training program to educate associates on sex and labor trafficking.
The Department of Homeland Security also recommends policies and procedures the hotel industry can use to prevent human trafficking and lists warning signs, such as hotel guests who are constantly monitored or appear malnourished.
Spokespersons for Choice, Wyndym and Hilton hotels each condemned sex trafficking and told the newspaper their companies are already working to reduce its presence at their properties, in part by offering training to their workers and franchisees.
We applaud hotels already educating employees in how to recognize and report trafficking. The entire hospitality industry should follow their example. But it is clear that voluntary training is not enough.
Many states and counties are now requiring hotel employees to undergo trafficking-awareness training. Other municipalities have passed resolutions banning employee travel or conferences in hotels that do not offer training, said Robert Beiser, Polaris’ strategic initiatives director for sex trafficking.
Texas, by contrast, doesn’t require hotels to have human-trafficking-awareness training or signage. That needs to change. Our state and local municipalities must do all they can to stop the spread of sexual exploitation.