Philly hotel regulations proposed to help prevent human trafficking

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New legislation before Philadelphia City Council aims to regulate hotels in an effort to prevent human trafficking.

Councilman Ed Neilson introduced the bill, saying instances of sexually exploiting captives could be cut down if hotels are prevented from renting rooms by the hour.

Human traffickers “exploit children. It’s something we read about sometimes, but not a lot,” Neilson said Thursday. “So that is what we are trying to key in on, the kids.”

Good hotels already train employees in the skills to help prevent human trafficking, said Ed Grose of the Greater Philadelphia Hotel Association.

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“Any hotel that you yourself want to stay in or bring your family too already follows these provisions — and they should,” he said.

Grose said his group has worked with the councilman to create a bill that will bring those standards to all city hotels.

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