Swinging at the hornets nest here (the “sex work is work” crowd won’t like this one lol) but there was a post going around about like “if you work in hospitality and you think you see a sex worker, no you didn’t. Keep your mouth shut and let them make their money” is honestly sending me. As many of you know, one of my jobs is working front desk at a hotel and like no lads…we can’t “look the other way” at times. Yes, we know when the working girls check in (many are regulars who are open about it, plus after working their long enough you Know™️ when a woman is because you can clock the signs) and of course we can’t stop them but there are times when you literally have to say something. Here are a couple of instances that have happened on my shifts alone:
-I was checking in two girls and knew something was off and asked to see both their ID’s. Only one had a passport and her 18th birthday was literally a week ago. The other one handed me her high school student card. We had to call the police when their pimp came in and started making threats bc we refused to check them in.
-a sex worker checked in the night before and a housekeeper went into the room the next morning and found the woman in a bloody mess. There were chunks of human tissue scattered throughout the room (the housekeeper quit after that. Honestly, housekeepers are literally on the front lines of the bullshit but that’s another story)
-something about a “couple” was offfffffff at check in. The woman was standing with her hands behind her back, had her eyes glued to the floor, and wouldn’t answer questions despite her name being on the reservation. The man was answering for her. When I asked to see her ID, he hands it to me, and when I handed it to her, her arms were covered in bruises. We didn’t let them check in
-there are two properties and one of them has an agreement with a women’s shelter. I’ve checked in women into one property only to see them come in months later to the other property under the womens shelters’ reservation with bruises and broken limbs (many of whom are indigenous women).
So yeah bottom line: with the World Cup soon approaching, all of us -front desk, maintenance, housekeeping, the kitchen staff, sales, you name it all departments- have had to do extensive modules on clocking the signs of human trafficking. You can’t just look the other way because it can mean missing the underaged girl or preventing horrific violence. Yes we have our regulars and yes sometimes it is what it is but no you can’t just look the other way and let them “secure the bag” because I guarantee there’s a pimp in the lobby/parking lot who’s the one getting the bag at her expense.
