The first comprehensive study about international sexual abuse of children in travel and tourism shows that two decades of efforts have failed to even put a “dent,” and that more children than ever before are being exploited, said US Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), author of the landmark  Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), who participated in today’s the release of  “Offenders on the Move: Global Study on Sexual Exploitation and Abuse of Children in Travel and Tourism.”

“Tourism is soaring while protection lags,” remarked Smith. “The Global Study offers numerous mutually reinforcing public and private sector recommendations that beg immediate consideration and aggressive implementation.”

According to the new Global Study sponsored primarily by through End Pornography and Trafficking of Children (ECPAT), tourism trips around the world have more than doubled from 527 million in 1995 to 1.1 billion in 2014. Despite the rapid growth of tourism, protections for children have not increased. The study found the majority of those travelers who become offenders are “situational”—or individuals who may have never dreamed of sexually exploiting a child until given the opportunity to do so.

“Among its many findings, the Global Study points out that business travelers in ‘special economic zones’ in South East Asia—as well as business travelers coming to the United States—exploit local children with relative ease and impunity using internet facilitated meetings,” said Smith. “And there is much more to be done to educate the business and tourism industries—especially smaller businesses and guest houses and zero star hotels about how to protect children from offenders not already known to authorities.

“The United States and other nations must do more to address another source of child exploitation—that of ‘volun-tourists’ or individuals who travel abroad to assist non-governmental organizations, or churches, orphanages, or other entities doing good in the world—but then use their access to vulnerable children for exploitation,” Smith said. Click here to read Smith’s remarks.

Smith has held over a dozen hearings with the travel in tourism industry, including hotels, airlines, and Amtrak, in order to encourage new industry standards and training of employees to detect and report suspected human trafficking.  His most recent hearing on the topic was in preparation for the XLVII Super Bowl in New Jersey. The congressman holds several hearings a year on annual human trafficking reports by the State Department mandated by Smith’s TVPA. 

In addition, Smith’s recent law, The International Megan’s Law, passed both houses of Congress and signed into law in 2016 as (PL 114-119), ensures that destination countries know in advance when an individual convicted of a sex offense against a child will attempt to enter the destination country—and creates the framework for other countries to similarly warn the United States. In addition to the original 2000 law (Public Law 106-386), Smith wrote three subsequent anti-trafficking laws, including (PL 108-193 and PL 109-164) increasing resources for crime prevention and expanding treatment assistance for victims.

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