Hotel brands owned by Hilton, Intercontinental and Best Western are among a number of leading global chains accused of profiting from sex trafficking.

In a landmark case that lawyers claim demonstrates “industry-wide failures” to prevent sex trafficking, it has been alleged that women and children were held captive, abused and sold for sex in their guest rooms across the US.

A total of 13 women have accused a dozen hotel groups of wilfully ignoring warning signs that sexual exploitation was taking place on their premises...

An estimated 80% of all human trafficking arrests occur in or around hotels, the lawsuit claims. In 2014, 92% of the calls the National Human Trafficking Hotline received involved reports of sex trafficking taking place at hotels, according to the litigation.

Despite well-publicised industry-wide initiatives to tackle child and sex trafficking, including staff training to identify potential victims, the hotel chains named in the lawsuit failed to adequately implement such policies, and in some cases failed to implement any policies at all, the lawsuit claims...

In a statement, Best Western Hotels & Resorts said: “Best Western International, Inc condemns human trafficking. It is a despicable crime and the criminals who intentionally inflict this suffering on their victims should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law...

A spokesperson for Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc told the Guardian: “Hilton condemns all forms of human trafficking, including for sexual exploitation. As signatories of the ECPAT code since 2011, we are fully committed, in each and every one of our markets, to protecting individuals from all forms of abuse and exploitation....

A spokesperson for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts said: “We condemn human trafficking in all forms and are committed to working with hotel owners to fight human trafficking across our industry and in local communities....