The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) is leading the travel industry in an ongoing battle against child sex tourism with its adoption of the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism. The Society encourages its members to support government measures taken to counter the sexual exploitation of women and children, to inform colleagues of the negative consequences of "sex tourism," and to advise clients of the penalties imposed on tourists who commit such acts.

As part of our commitment to ending the sexual exploitation of children, ASTA has agreed to:

1. establish an ethical policy regarding commercial sexual exploitation of children;

2. train the personnel in the country of origin and travel destinations;

3. introduce a clause in contracts with suppliers, stating a common repudiation of commercial sexual exploitation of children;

4. provide information to travelers by means of catalogues, brochures, in-flight films, ticket-slips, home pages, etc;

5. provide information to local "key persons" at the destinations; and

6. report annually.

The Code was developed by ECPAT Sweden in coordination with Scandinavian tour operators and the World Tourism Organization (WTO). ASTA was the first association with global reach to adopt the Code.

ASTA Meetings Policy
The American Society of Travel Agents now requires that its meetings hosts and host hotels sign a contract repudiating the commercial sexual exploitation of children, forbidding such activities to be conducted in facilities, including hotels, related to the ASTA event and to immediately take all appropriate legal and other steps to terminate such activities.

Resources

ECPAT International: http://www.ecpat.net/

State Department article on the Protect Act of 2003: http://usinfo.state.gov/gi/Archive/2003/Dec/17-227348.html

The Code: http://www.thecode.org/

World Tourism Organization: http://www.world-tourism.org/protect_children/index.htm

Department of Justice fact sheet: http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/April/03_ag_266.htm

If you know about a child who is in immediate risk or danger, call local law enforcement.

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: http://www.missingkids.com/

To report a suspicious incident, please contact the CyberTipline (http://www.cybertipline.com/), or to report information on a missing child, call the Child Pornography Tipline at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678).

The PROTECT Act of 2003
On April 30, 2003, President George W. Bush signed the PROTECT Act into law, with an eye toward boosting law enforcement officials' ability to thoroughly prosecute and punish those found guilty of violent crimes committed against children. Now there are no statutes of limitations on cases involving the "abduction or physical or sexual abuse of a child, in virtually all cases. Under previous law, the statute of limitations expired when the child turned 25, potentially allowing child rapists to go free if law enforcement could not solve the crime in time." (Dept. of Justice Fact Sheet, http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/April/03_ag_266.htm)

The Amber Alert Program, is one of the more familiar programs to come from this Act. With the passage of the law, enforcement authorities are now allowed to use such methods as wiretapping to track those who go after children for the purpose of sex trafficking and abuse. Moreover, those who travel for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts with children now face harsher punishment and will also find it more difficult to obtain bail.

The Protect Act of 2003 also increases the punishments that can be handed down to those found guilty of criminal acts against children. For example, people who are first-time offenders of using a child to produce child pornography now face 15 to 30 years imprisonment, while life imprisonment is required for those found guilty of committing two serious sexual abuse offenses against a child.

To find out more, contact the Department of Justice at (202) 514-2008.

Member Resources
ASTA has created ticket stuffers, posters and a swiss cheese press release for the use of its members.