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AHLAF Continues The Fight Against Trafficking

As National Human Trafficking Prevention Month comes to an end, we want to thank everyone for their active engagement and efforts to raise awareness of human trafficking.

When we come together, our work makes a difference. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has already arrested 71 people for human trafficking in Tampa ahead of the Super Bowl. 

With your help, we hope that we will continue these important efforts throughout the year and work towards our goal of training every hotel employee on human trafficking.

Hotel Industry Partners With It’s A Penalty for 2021 Super Bowl Campaign 

We began celebrating National Human Trafficking Prevention Month by hosting an event with nearly 300 virtual attendees in partnership with It’s a Penalty, A21, and the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association to raise awareness of human trafficking in advance of Super Bowl LV. The Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody gave the keynote speech, and attendees were led through a human trafficking awareness training.

AHLA Foundation’s Shelly Weir moderated a panel discussion on combating human trafficking ahead of Super Bowl LV. Pictured from left to right on stage: Corporal Alan Wilkett, Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, Commander, Pasco County Human Trafficking Task Force; Mollie Thorsen, U.S. Director of Advocacy, A21; Shelly Weir, Senior Vice President of Career Development, AHLA Foundation; and Danny Cooper, Senior Marketing Manager, Tampa International Airport

Tampa Hotel Awareness Kits Save Lives

On January 30, 400 volunteers came together, teaming up with the SOAP Project and NOMORE, to assemble and distribute awareness kits to over 300 Tampa hotels. The kits included It’s a Penalty campaign materials, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) list of missing children, 16,000 bars of soap and 12,000 makeup remover wipes with hotline information printed on them.

As a result of their efforts, four girls were identified from the missing children’s list. 

400,000 Hotel Employees Trained Through ECPAT-USA Training

In early 2020, we were proud to announce a free online human trafficking awareness training produced by Marriott International in collaboration with ECPAT-USA and Polaris with the support of the AHLA Foundation, an ECPAT-USA corporate partner in protection.

Since the launch, nearly 400,000 hotel employees have been trained on how to prevent and combat human trafficking.

Bring Training To Your Hotel: The training is targeted for hotel employees at all levels of a property, and the e-learning program can be accessed through ECPAT-USA’s Learning Management System** or be licensed and hosted directly on an employer’s Learning Management System. Learn More 

Several Ways To Stay Involved Throughout The Year

Sample Social Media

Example 1: Each year, thousands of our employees are trained on how to identify and stop trafficking. We’re proud to be a part of @AHLAFoundation’s #NoRoom campaign ahead of the Super Bowl as we continue our efforts to #EndTrafficking https://youtu.be/-IKtC_7op24.

Example 2: Hotels are fighting to end human trafficking across the country by training our employees and raising awareness to recognize the signs of human trafficking. Learn about @AHLAFoundation’s #NoRoom campaign here: https://www.ahlafoundation.org/human-trafficking

Example 3: The hotel industry is unified in the fight to end human trafficking. Join us in our efforts by getting trained today. https://www.ahlafoundation.org/human-trafficking

Download a social media graphic here.