Republican Representative Alice Forgy Kerr, of Lexington, who introduced the resolution, says in a release the code of conduct is an "established initiative to provide support in training the travel and tourism industry in preventing sexual exploitation of children."
According to Senate Resolution 149, an estimated 199,000 incidents of sexual exploitation of minors occur each year in the United States. Of those incidents, 45 percent of youth victims are exploited in hotels.
Mary Kunze of the advocacy group Family Foundation of Kentucky says this initiative to prompt the hospitality industry into action would encourage hotels, motels and tourism industries to educate their employees of the signs that surround trafficking, which can include young girls entering hotels along with an out-of-state ID, paying for room with cash or noticeably tense and alert behavior.
The Senate floor adopted the measure Wednesday by a 35-0 vote.
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