In 1999, “The abuse of children is not a pecadillo” was commissioned by the Austrian Ministry of Youth and Family Affairs in co-operation with the Ministry for Economic Affairs, Division for Tourism, and UNICEF. The video was shown on Australian Airlines as an in-flight video to raise awareness of the problem of child sex tourism. Other airlines such as Lufthansa and Air France have shown their own videos in flight. At this time, no US airline company is taking a stand to educate the public and few hotels have agreed to helo. Many tourists are unaware that child sex tourism is happening where they go on holiday and maybe right in their own guesthouse or is being committed by the man sitting next to them in a bar in India, Costa Rica, the Gambia, Thailand or any of a number of places worldwide. The travel industry is becoming more active in fighting this crime but we need more involvement from them, especially US hotel and travel agencies. Check out http://www.ecpatusa.org/help.asp and sign a letter asking US hotels to sign The Code of Conduct. Also, visit www.thecode.org to learn about the initiative to fight child sex tourism worldwide and see who has joined the effort. Traveling overseas should be an amazing opportunity to share cultures and get in touch with our common humanity. Let’s work together to stop those who want to exploit the lovely countries who welcome us to visit.
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