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On Jan. 19, Krishna Patel, Justice Initiative Director and General Counsel for Grace Farms Foundation, spoke at a press conference in Hartford at the Marriott downtown, introducing a new educational course offered at Quinnipiac Law School to train hotel and motel employees throughout the state of Connecticut on how to detect and prevent human trafficking. This stems from a new Connecticut law (Public Act No.16-71), and the first of its kind in the country, which mandates hotels, motels, and inns to post trafficking hotline numbers and training for all employees on how to detect and report human trafficking.
The new law was drafted in collaboration with Grace Farms Foundation, and is now implemented with the Trafficking in Persons Council, National Lodging Association, Marriot International, Connecticut Bar Association, Quinnipiac Law School, and the Governor’s Office. Patel will be involved in the ongoing curriculum development for these trainings, and we look forward to following this work through our Justice initiative this year.
The articles below provide more information about this new law, its implementation, and the logistics surrounding the trainings.
The Connecticut Mirror: Connecticut, hospitality industry join to fight sex trafficking
Mark Pazniokas highlights the massive shift this law represents in how we view the participants of child trafficking, noting Governor Malloy’s insistence that it’s a problem we may not want to face, but from which we cannot turn away. The Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, Joette Katz, pointed out that, until recently, there were no laws in place to protect minor victims of human trafficking from criminal prosecution for prostitution.
Fox 61: Connecticut’s Hotel Employees to be Trained in Spotting Signs of Human Trafficking
Fox News’ Laura Roberts acknowledges the collaboration, in the form of a public-private partnership, required to generate a change of this magnitude. Each partner has a pivotal role in the law and the training required to implement it effectively in over 500 hotels across the state.
Anna Bisaro sheds light on some key red flags that indicate sex trafficking might be taking place in hotels by pointing to the warning signs as described by New Haven-based nonprofit, Love146. The Executive Director of the Connecticut Lodging Association, Ginny Kozlowski, said we all are responsible for increasing awareness of this problem in Connecticut, so that we can be a role model for other states.
Photo: © Anna Bisaro
