HRE Online: Wyndham Signs On to Help Stop Child Sex Trafficking

Helping stop child prostitution is the goal of a new agreement signed by Parsippany-based Wyndham Worldwide, the global hotel and hospitality chain. Under Code for the Protection of Children in Travel and Tourism, company employees will receive special training to help them detect and report child prostitution cases found at the hotels. 

U.S. hotel firms Carlson Cos. and Hilton International have also signed onto the initiative.

The pact comes after the indictments of 38 people in California following an 18-month law enforcement probe into child sex trafficking in area hotels. The owners of the Wyndham franchise in Oceanside, Calif., were arrested in the wake of the investigation, according to CNN.com.

Carol Smolenski, executive director of the U.S. branch of Thailand's Ending Child Prostitution and Trafficking, told Human Resource Executive Online that more American companies need to sign onto the child protection agreement.

"We believe there are hundreds of thousands of kids being exploited in the United States," she said, noting that hospitality staffers often know of situations but are afraid or unaware of what to do.

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