Real Hospitality Group (RHG) has become the first hotel management company in the United States to enter the fight against the commercial sexual exploitation of children by signing the Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct.
“The issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children is abhorrent”, says Rick Day, Chief Operating Officer. “As a leader in the hospitality industry, Real Hospitality Group is proud to use our sphere of influence to do whatever we can to protect the most vulnerable. Responsibility to our communities demands a public stance on this issue and we are pleased to partner with ECPAT and publically sign the Code of Conduct.”
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, a national leader in the fight against sex trafficking, spoke out at the signing ceremony about the importance of private sector involvement in stopping human trafficking.
“With sex tourism, and more specifically the sexual commercial exploitation of children, reaching epidemic proportions, today’s announcement marks an important step. I applaud ECPAT for developing the Child-Protection Code of Conduct, which establishes important safeguards against trafficking to be adopted by good corporate citizens in the tourism and hospitality industries, and I salute the Real Hospitality Group on becoming the first hotel management company in America to sign on to the Code. I encourage other companies to
follow suit, and look forward to the day when the Code reflects industry-wide standards and practices. We know that law enforcement authorities cannot, by themselves, win the struggle against human trafficking, the twenty-first century form of slavery; and that’s why enlisting the support and active participation of the private sector in this critical effort is so important.”
Click here for the entire press release
From left to right: RHG Chief Operating Officer Rick Day, Congressional Representative for NY-14 Carolyn Maloney, ECPAT-USA Executive Director Carol Smolenski