LAS VEGAS, May 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its
contribution to the campaign to fight the global crime of human
trafficking, MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) awarded
$250,000 to the McCain Institute for
International Leadership at Arizona State
University.
The nonpartisan think tank, founded in 2012, and inspired by the
public service of Senator John
McCain and his family, will use the gift to fund several
initiatives to aid the vulnerable population of homeless youth and
provide prevention measures.
"We are so grateful for the support of MGM Resorts
International. This contribution allows us to deepen our work to
protect our communities' most at-risk and vulnerable
citizens from exploitation and abuse," said Cindy H. McCain, who serves on McCain
Institute's Human Trafficking Advisory Council. "Partnerships like
these take us one step closer to the day when no man, woman or
child finds themselves ensnared in modern day slavery," added
McCain.
Among the initiatives that will be funded are:
- A certification program for service providers who work with
runaway and homeless youth, a population that is vulnerable to
exploitation.
- Enhanced school-based prevention efforts, including teaching
children how to avoid victimization, while training educators to
identify child trafficking victims.
- New multi-disciplinary approaches to eliminate forced labor
from global supply chains.
"Youth homelessness is an urgent problem across our country.
These children and teenagers are at great risk for human
trafficking and other forms of exploitation," said Kristen L. Abrams, McCain Institute's senior
program director for combating human trafficking. "To address this
critical need, we are working to better equip those serving runaway
and homeless young people so that they can help us prevent and end
the exploitation of youth in transition," Abrams added.
According to the International Labour Organization, a U.N.
agency, human trafficking is among the most widespread crimes in
the world. The agency's most recent statistics, measured in 2016,
found that an estimated 40.3 million people were in modern slavery,
including 24.9 million in forced labor and 15.4 million in forced
marriage. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by forced
labor, accounting for 99% of victims in the commercial sex
industry, and 58% in other sectors. 1
"As a leader in corporate responsibility, MGM Resorts and the
hospitality industry have an important role to play in combating
human trafficking," said Phyllis A.
James, MGM Resorts Chief Diversity and Corporate
Responsibility Officer. "We believe in an interdisciplinary
approach to the issue, partnering with law enforcement at all
levels, as well as governments, nonprofit social service and other
organizations, businesses and communities at large. Our gift to the
McCain Institute for research and development of best practices
represents another dimension of our efforts."
This donation is another important milestone in MGM Resorts'
anti-human trafficking efforts. In March of this year, The MGM
Resorts Foundation donated $10,000
each to three nonprofits – the Embracing Project/The Center 4
Peace, SEEDS of Hope and The Rape Crisis Center – that provide
services to victims of human trafficking.
MGM Resorts is also an active participant in the Southern Nevada
Human Trafficking Task Force, a collaboration led by the
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police
Department among local, state and federal law enforcement and
members of the business, non-profit, faith-based and general
communities to coordinate anti-trafficking strategies, share best
practices and raise awareness about trafficking prevention and
detection.
Further, MGM Resorts trains its security officers and other
customer-facing employees across its properties to identify
potential trafficking victims and appropriate response. In 2017,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation recognized ARIA Resort and
Casino Security Department with the Director's Community Leadership
Award for Aria's humanistic approach to potential trafficking
victims. The award was created in 1990 to honor individuals and
organizations for their efforts in combating crime, terrorism,
drugs, and violence in America. Visit the FBI website at
www.fbi.gov for more details.
And recently, MGM Resorts International affiliate MGM
MACAU was named as a top 15 global
finalist for the Stop Slavery Award by the Thomson Reuters
Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the world's biggest news and
information provider.
About MGM Resorts International
MGM Resorts
International (NYSE: MGM) is an S&P 500® global entertainment
company with national and international locations featuring
best-in-class hotels and casinos, state-of-the-art meetings and
conference spaces, incredible live and theatrical entertainment
experiences, and an extensive array of restaurant, nightlife and
retail offerings. MGM Resorts creates immersive, iconic experiences
through its suite of Las
Vegas-inspired brands. The MGM Resorts portfolio encompasses
28 unique hotel offerings including some of the most recognizable
resort brands in the industry. Expanding throughout the U.S. and
around the world, the company in 2018 opened MGM COTAI in
Macau and the first
Bellagio-branded hotel in Shanghai. It also is developing MGM
Springfield in Massachusetts. The
78,000 global employees of MGM Resorts are proud of their company
for being recognized as one of FORTUNE® Magazine's World's Most
Admired Companies®. For more information visit us at
www.mgmresorts.com.
About the McCain Institute
Guided by the values that
have driven the McCain family for generations of public service,
the McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University is a non-partisan do-tank
dedicated to advancing character-driven, global leadership based on
security, economic opportunity, freedom and human dignity-- in
the United States and around the
world. For more information
visit: www.McCainInstitute.org
1 Source: Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced
Labour and Forced Marriage, Geneva, September
2017.
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SOURCE MGM Resorts International