PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A bill is in the works in Pennsylvania to require training for hotel employees in recognizing and reporting human trafficking. The bill comes a year before major events are set to be held in Philadelphia, including the World Cup and the nation’s sesquicentennial.
State Rep. Regina Young, who represents parts of Delaware and Philadelphia counties, is a sponsor of House Bill 1286. She joined co-sponsors, trafficking experts, law enforcement, and hotel industry representatives to discuss the bill during a press conference at Governor Printz Park in Essington on Tuesday.
The proposed bill would mandate training for hotel and lodging workers, as well as third-party listing platforms and rental operators.
Dr. Sakinah Love is the executive director of Redeemed for a Cause, a local non-profit organization that works with trafficked women and girls.
“We work directly with women who are engaging in street prostitution,” said Love. “A lot of the work that we have done has been surrounded around hotel work.”
She said hotel workers can be the eyes and ears for social workers and investigators.
“One of the main reasons why we went to the area where the women were engaging in street prostitution. It was to educate the hotel workers the community on what was happening, so that they would have an eye to see it, to know what to do,” she explained. “So education is the best way to bring awareness to the issue, so people know how to handle it, who to
call and what to do.
Steve Bannar is a detective sergeant with the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division and echoed the importance that hotel workers have in identifying trafficking.
“They can actually identify something and call us, say, hey, look, this is suspicious, we can then take the initiative and start looking into… who rents a room, background on the person getting video surveillance,” he said.
The bill comes as the region prepares to host national and international events in 2026 – events that draw human traffickers hoping to exploit an increased demand for sex workers.
“Knowing this is coming our way, it's better to establish a game plan and get people educated so that way they can reach out,” said Bannar. “So that's the biggest big picture here is getting these victims out of the situation they're in and getting them help.”