human traffickers and their enablers can now be sued in civil court
The extent of human trafficking in our country is still being assessed by law enforcement officials and the legislators who write our laws. Victim Service Providers and pro bono attorneys, who are in a position to fight for the rights of victims, have an important role in exposing the truths behind this crime through civil litigation. The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA) gave victims the right to sue labor traffickers. In 2008, that law expanded the list of victims who can sue in federal court to include sex trafficking survivors.
539 civil cases filed from 2004 through 2021
According to The Human Trafficking Legal Center in Washington, DC., from 2004 through 2021, there were 539 civil trafficking cases filed in federal court under this cause of action, resulting in $265 million in civil damage awards and public settlements. Nearly half of the sex trafficking civil cases filed since 2009 have targeted hotels and the hospitality industry for "financially benefiting" from the plaintiff's alleged sex trafficking.
how big is the u.s. hospitality market?
The U.S. hospitality market is estimated at more than $225 billion in 2024, encompassing diverse segments: casinos, entertainment, food service, lodging, and tourism. The days of industry managers only posting anti-trafficking informational flyers and providing 15 minutes of online training to their employees are over, unless they want to keep losing civil suits $5 million at a time. Hotels attempting to root out human trafficking criminal enterprises through awareness efforts are naive, given the complex dynamics at work by these criminals.
2024 civil litigation trends
In the more than 15 human trafficking civil litigation that I have been an expert witness in since 2020 that involved hotels as defendants, hotels were accused of:
Being situated to prevent human trafficking but failing to do so,
Knowing, or should have known, that sex trafficking was occurring at their hotel,
Overlooking "clear evidence" of human trafficking, and
Profiting off the backs of victims by facilitating sex trafficking.
Proper staff training, partnering with competent and relevant stakeholders, and spreading awareness of the evils of human trafficking in our society are definitely a must. But that won't work unless local, county and state police are doing their job effectively. Each segment of the hospitality industry must demand that their local police department address how human trafficking has affected their business, and insist that the police better identify local human trafficking offenses and properly investigate all allegations of prostitution and human trafficking on their property.
Greg Bristol Consulting recommends hotels implement proactive strategies to properly investigate all allegations of prostitution and human trafficking and document their associations with local police, community groups, and victim service providers. Arrests and prosecutions of human traffickers is definitely important. A community that invests in preventing the sexual exploitation of women and children, helps victims of human trafficking, and effectively works with law enforcement, is a winning effort.
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