Hotel workers enlisted to stop child exploitation
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/03/2010 (5776 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Thousands of hotel workers in Manitoba will be “deputized” later this spring to report to police any incident they believe a child is being sexually exploited.
The program is a partnership between the Manitoba government and the Manitoba Hotel Association and is based on one launched last year in Alberta.
While no one knows how many children — mostly girls — are sexually abused by adult males in hotels rooms, officials say the campaign will enlist hotel staff to report suspicious incidents so police can intervene more quickly.
“We have to deputize all Manitobans to be vigilant, to watch out for this exploitation,” Family Services Minister Gord Mackintosh said Tuesday at a conference being held to mark Child Sexual Exploitation Awareness Week. “Any form of child abuse does not report itself. It takes us all to do that.
“This is not some entrepreneurial effort that these young girls, mostly children, are trapped in. This is exploitation. They have been subject to predatory behaviour.”
Manitoba Hotel Association president Jim Baker said it makes sense to get involved in the program, which will officially start after April 12. It will include a training video for staff and a phone number to call if workers spot something suspicious.
Victor Malarek, author of two books that document the global sex trade and guest speaker at the conference, said he expected more from the announcement.
“What I thought he should be saying it is not only children, but that our hotels are not going to be used as brothels and our hotels are going to drop porn,” said the award-winner journalist.
“Many of the women who are involved in porn are sexually exploited and have been trafficked into it. So if you really want to make a statement, drop porn.”
Baker said some hotels already ban pornographic channels, including Winnipeg’s Canad Inns.
bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca