A new campaign for combating exploitation and human trafficking will leverage digital and community promotions to raise awareness with people who can take action to stop abuse. ECPAT-USA’s 20BY20 media initiatives and progress updates will educate events professionals to identify and respond to the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
The goal is to train 20,000 events industry professionals by July 2020. ECPAT-USA and the United Nations’ World Day Against Human Trafficking in Persons joined together to launch this initiative.
“To have the business events industry become a unified part of the fight against this international scourge by championing education is essential to achieving this vision,” says Michelle Guelbart, director of private sector engagement for ECPAT-USA.
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Human traffickers use hotels and airlines to transport and exploit their victims; they also take advantage of large-scale events to find customers. To assist in creating a future where human trafficking doesn’t exist, leading organizations are pledging to proactively encourage their partners, staff and members to become part of 20BY20. ECPAT-USA’s founding class of Business Events Champions include: CorpTrav, CWT, IAEE, IMEX Group and PCMA.
ECPAT-USA’s 20BY20 will use their 25-minute training program, Preventing & Responding to Human Trafficking and the Commercial Sexual Exploration of Children, for business events and travel professionals. The program is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French; it’s designed to teach professionals what to look for and how to respond to suspected cases of trafficking.
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ECPAT-USA is the leading organization in the United States looking to end commercial sexual exploitation of children by promoting awareness, advocacy, policy and legislation. ECPAT International is a network of organizations in over 90 countries worldwide with the same mission of eliminating sexual exploitation of children around the world.
o 40 million people are living in slavery worldwide, according to International Labor Organization (ILO)
o ILO found that 1 in 4 victims of modern slavery are children
o 4.8 million victims of modern slavery are sexually exploited, reported the ILO
o Modern slavery is a$150 billion crime, according to the ILO
o Human trafficking has been reported in all 50 states
o Human trafficking is a multibillion-dollar industry worldwide
o January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month
