‘When you have 40 to 50 johns in one night visiting one room and it’s not prevented or stopped, somebody should be held accountable.”-Annie McAdams, attorney for sex trafficking victim
In the past, most arrests for prostitution were the women many of them were young girls—minors, and wrongly called “teen prostitutes.” There is no such thing as a teen prostitutie—they are victims of sex trafficking. Over time, more pimps and sex traffickers have been targeted by law enforcement. And recently, there have been more stings throughout the country to crackdown on Johns—especially those seeking sex with girls they believe are minors.
Recently in Texas, a young woman filed the first lawsuit in Harris County against prominent hotel chains, truck stop chains and the BackPage.com website, which is well-known for exploiting the sex trafficking of minors. Gabrielle Banks with the Houston Chronicle reports fifteen hotel chains and five truck stops in addition to BackPage.com are named in the legal action. Below are five of those corporations: Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Choice Hotels International (Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria, Hotel & Suites, Mainstay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay, Econo Lodge, Rodeway In, and Ascend Hotel Collection), Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, Travel Centers of America/Truckstops of America (TA) and Flying J Truck stops
Houston attorney Annie McAdams said the disregard for her client was egregious. Hotels and truck stops would take the reservations and then do nothing when a series of men visited a room occupied by a teenage girl, she said.
The victim, now 18, was lured into the sex trafficking as a minor while living with her parents. She was ultimately rescued from a hotel in Houston after an undercover sting. She said was drugged and would wake up after being sexually assaulted/raped by multiple men.
The lawyer said her client, identified in the suit only as Jane Doe #1, is not alone. More than 300,000 people in Texas have fallen victim to human trafficking, including nearly 79,000 minors and youth victims of sex trafficking, according to a study last year by the Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault at the University of Texas at Austin.
“This is not people from other countries,” McAdams said. “This is right here. Our children in Houston are being affected by this.”
The Polaris Project has been working to end human trafficking/sex-trafficking and the organization is well aware of hotel involvement. Polaris Project writes:
THE PROBLEM
One of the most commonly reported venues for sex trafficking to the National Human Trafficking Hotline is hotels and motels. We know that pimps and traffickers use hotel and motel rooms when setting up so-called “dates” between victims of sex trafficking and those individuals purchasing sex. We also know labor trafficking is present in both the hotel industry’s work force and in the supply chain of its products.
Traffickers are capitalizing on the lack of awareness around this issue within the hotel industry. All too often, they continue to exploit their victims unchecked because staff, managers, and executives do not know what to look for.
THE SOLUTION
Industry leaders are increasingly recognizing the unique role they can play in preventing and disrupting this crime. Hotels must formally adopt company-wide anti-trafficking policies, train staff on what to look for and how to respond, establish a safe and secure reporting mechanism, and work with suppliers and vendors who responsibly source their products.
Victims of human sex trafficking are often right in front of us at truck stops, massage parlors, hotels, salons … they are held captive through coercion, force, manipulated drug addiction and threats of harm to families/friends. There are an estimated 20.9 million victims of human trafficking/slavery worldwide with 1.5 million in North America. Sex-trafficking is a common and lucrative crime. An estimated $150 billion is made by human traffickers, just under the #1 organized crime of drug trafficking. Tony Talbott made a powerful summation about sex trafficking during a TED talk presentation. He puts it bluntly:
“Human trafficking is insanely profitable. If you really think about it, you can sell a kilo of heroin once; you can sell a 13-year-old girl 20 times a night, 365 days a year.
...you should feel a little outraged about this. You should feel upset about this. And that’s great - but it’s not good enough.”
There are telltale signs around us all. For additional information, visit The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC), online, which operates 24 hours, seven days a week. You can also call 1-888-373-7888 or text BeFree (233733). If you suspect any kind of human trafficking, you can submit a tip to DHS. Targeting hotels, websites and truck stops for their part in sex-trafficking is one more way to help stop this subhuman atrocity. And it can be stopped with monumental public involvement, more investigations and more law enforcement and life sentences.
Lastly, for some reason, sex workers flock to stories about this issue to defend their work and promote legal prostitution, as if that it will stop sex-trafficking. Let’s be clear—it will not. Sexworkers choose their work. Sex-trafficking victims are forced. There should be no confusion and linking the two only minimizes the crime, exploits more innocent children and helps this inhumane industry flourish.
Related articles:
Dear John, I'm thirteen, I'm not a prostitute—I’m a victim and forced to be here with you
Trucker saves victim of torture at a PILOT station after recognizing the signs of sex trafficking
Flight attendant tells how she learned to recognize human trafficking and what you can do
'You Can Sell A Kilo Once; You Can Sell A 13-Year-Old Girl 20 Times A Night, 365 Days A Year
Two Tennessee pastors are among 32 arrested for human trafficking during undercover sting
The goal of 'Truckers Against Trafficking' is to rescue victims. A 15-year-old tells her story.
