January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month

Free Human Trafficking Prevention Training Available for Restaurants and Lodging Facilities Across Oregon

Wilsonville, OR—To honor National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association (ORLA) announced today the renewal of its partnership with the nonprofit Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST), to make human trafficking awareness training available to all ORLA members and their staffs free of charge throughout 2025. BEST provides specialized training in human trafficking prevention. In partnership with ORLA, BEST’s Inhospitable to Human Trafficking training for the hospitality industry is available to help restaurant and lodging employees across Oregon learn the indicators of human trafficking and how to safely report it. The partnership between ORLA and BEST gives the hospitality industry in Oregon a tool that has been proven to prepare employees to be able to recognize human trafficking situations and assist in recovering more victims. 

"Our association is deeply committed to taking a leadership role in building stronger partnerships with like-minded organizations dedicated to anti-trafficking training," said Jason Brandt, President & CEO, Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association. "As an industry, we have a critical responsibility to be part of the solution. Providing high-quality, no-cost training isn't just a priority—it's a fundamental obligation to society." 

Human trafficking networks rely on legitimate public-facing businesses to sustain their operations and infrastructure. Hotels, restaurants, and other hospitality businesses are used by human traffickers as places to recruit victims and connect victims with buyers and other exploiters. In 2023 the National Human Trafficking Hotline was contacted 461 times about suspected human trafficking incidents in Oregon, including 166 contacts by victims or survivors of human trafficking. There were 132 cases of human trafficking identified in Oregon in 2023, involving 248 victims.

The aim of ORLA’s partnership with BEST is to have even more human trafficking cases identified and reported across the state by equipping hospitality employees to recognize and report the behaviors that are the indicators of human trafficking.  

“The crime of human trafficking flourishes when traffickers co-opt legitimate businesses to exploit vulnerable people,” says Kirsten Foot, CEO & Executive Director for Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking. “Our partnership with ORLA is very important because it makes our human trafficking prevention training available for free to everyone employed by a member of ORLA. By becoming informed and equipped, everyone in hospitality industry can help victims get the help they need and prevent people from being trafficked.”

BEST’s Inhospitable to Human Trafficking is a 30-minute, online, video-based training. The training is available in English or Spanish, and it has been proven to increase hospitality employee reporting. Independent evaluators of BEST's hospitality industry training found trained employees were more likely to come forward to report human trafficking incidents to their managers. Evaluators also found that 97 percent of hospitality employee participants believe BEST’s training made their workplace safer. 

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About Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association (ORLA)
The Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association is the leading business association for the foodservice and lodging industry in Oregon, which is comprised of over 10,000 foodservice locations and 2,400 lodging establishments. In 2023, our industry provided over 179,223 jobs to working Oregonians and brought in over $14 billion in annual sales for Oregon. For more information, visit www.oregonrla.org.

About Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST)
Businesses Ending Slavery and Trafficking (BEST) is a Seattle-based nonprofit organization with the mission to educate employers to prevent human trafficking and create pathways to employment for survivors. BEST is the first organization in the country dedicated entirely to working with employers to disrupt human trafficking. BEST has provided consultation and training to hundreds of businesses on how to prevent human trafficking. For more information visit www.bestalliance.org.