Human Trafficking Awareness: There’s Still More Work to Be Done

Sandy Biback was on a trip to Southeast Asia a decade ago when she saw signs about human trafficking in a hotel and discovered Daughters of Cambodia, a nonprofit focused on the sexual exploitation of young women and men in Cambodia.

That doesn’t happen where I live, she thought.

When she returned home to Canada, she started digging and learned the truth: More than 50 million people in the world today are living in some form of slavery. The owner of Imagination+Meeting Planners decided to take action and founded Meeting Professionals Against Human Trafficking (MPAHT). The organization works to grow awareness of human trafficking in the meetings industry and provide education and resources. 

Ten years later, as Biback prepares to pass the MPAHT torch to Lizzy Low, assistant director, sales, business and major events at Ottawa Tourism. She says that the fight against human trafficking has come a long way — but there’s still much work to be done.

A decade ago, if you asked a meeting planner what human trafficking was, they might not even have been aware, or understood what it had to do with their jobs. Today, many are including questions about hotels’ human trafficking training and practices right in their RFPs.

“If I have two hotels that are equal in all ways and one of them is actively involved in training their employees while the other does nothing, I’ll choose the former,” Biback said. She is writing a white paper with questions planners can ask potential hotels, which she plans to finish once she steps down from her role.

At the Center of It All: “The Code” 

As of July 2025, 349 hospitality and meeting industry companies and associations had agreed to establish anti-trafficking policies and train their employees in detection and prevention. These organizations are signatories of the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism (The Code). MPAHT became the Canadian representative for The Code in Canada last year, and Biback plans to turn her efforts toward signing up more Canadian companies. Human trafficking training through PACT (Protect All Children From Trafficking), formerly ECPAT USA, has also grown, and includes a free 30-minute online program.

Misconceptions Persist

When Biback joined the fight against human trafficking, there were many misconceptions about human trafficking, some of which continue today. One was that sex trafficking only occurs in cheap motels, not four- and five-star hotels. That changed following revelations of a high-profile case involving Subway spokesperson Jared Fogle engaging in commercial sex with a minor at a Ritz-Carlton hotel in New York City. Another was that the victims are trafficked from other countries, when in fact many are young girls, often runaways, from the U.S.

An ongoing misconception is that trafficking only has to do with sex trafficking. An estimated 77% of human trafficking involves labor trafficking, the hiring and mistreating of migrant laborers. 

While hotels in some parts of the world, such as South America, commonly display signage at their front desks warning people to look out for signs of human trafficking, the practice is mixed in the U.S. Only about a dozen states, including California, Texas, and New York, have laws mandating human-trafficking awareness signage in lodging facilities.

“The ability to do so depends on the local laws,” said Biback. “I’ve been to places in the world — tiny little airports — where they are able to post information.”

Less Attention Being Paid

Despite the work of MPAHT and others, the focus on human trafficking in the meetings industry has faded in recent years, with fewer articles being written and educational sessions being held at industry events. “It’s just not sexy any more,” Biback said. “I can remember when the ADA [Americans With Disabilities Act] was really sexy, and that’s not so sexy any more either.”

She says there are many steps planners could be taking in addition to asking questions during the RFP process, from creating a short video at the start of every conference to alert attendees, to including information about sex trafficking at registration, to hanging posters in the venue. 

“At Four Seasons, one of the things they tell their employees is, ‘This could be your child. It could be a friend's child.’ When you make it personal, it changes the vibe,” she said.

“It’s all about being aware and caring — and I think there's still a lot more work to be done.”

To Report Suspicious Behavior, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1 (888) 373-7888 in the U.S. and 1 (833) 900-1010 in Canada.