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Trafficking

United Front for Children: Global Efforts to Combat Sexual Trafficking in Travel and Tourism

Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. One of the consequences of easy and cheap global travel is an increase in the sexual exploitation of children in tourist destinations.

On April 21, 2006, the Human Rights Program hosted a conference to explore the relationship between tourism and child sex trafficking, as well as to address the human rights implications of this nexus. The conference, entitled "United Front for Children: Global Efforts to Combat Sexual Trafficking in Travel and Tourism" engaged four sectors: non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia, government agencies, and corporations – each of which approaches the issue of child trafficking differently.

The first day of the conference featured addresses by Ambassador John Miller of the U.S. State Department Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons; Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman and CEO of the Carlson Companies; and Ann Veneman, Executive Director of UNICEF. In addition, leaders of many well-respected NGOs in the field contributed to panel discussions on codes of conduct in the tourism industry; youth career initiatives aimed at preventing exploitation by training young girls for alternative career paths; regional models for addressing the problem; global responses involving various public and private sectors; and student actions aimed at addressing the issue.

A number of experts, public officials, business leaders, and students met on the second day of the conference to identify effective strategies for collaborative and independent activities of the four key sectors.

The conference was sponsored by the Human Rights Program and the Human Rights Center at the University of Minnesota, along with representatives of academia, NGOs, and businesses, in an effort to strengthen partnerships and norms on prevention, protection and prosecution regarding sexual trafficking and exploitation of children.