Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children

Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism

EMPORIA DMC, represented by Ms. Rosa Gordon Castillo, NIT 901847705-8, is committed to comply with the following Code of Conduct.
Our efforts follow international ethical principles, aligned with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the American Convention on Human Rights, the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, the Stockholm Declaration against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents (CSEC), the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, among others.
In compliance with the laws of Colombia that protect the rights of minors we formally declare that:
• We reject CSEC, especially in the travel and tourism industry where EMPORIA DMC operates and in the rest of the world.
• We denounce and condemn those who use tourism and its facilities and services to promote, facilitate and/or tolerate CSEC.
The exploitation of human beings in any form, especially the sexual exploitation of children and adolescents, goes against the fundamental principles of tourism and represents a denial of the contribution of tourism to the development of our country, the well-being of its people, the dignity of its inhabitants and the protection of its natural and cultural resources. the dignity of its inhabitants and the protection of its natural and cultural resources. It is essential to prevent situations that affect the sustainability and human and economic development of the country, therefore, we determine:
Article 1: PURPOSE
The present code is a formal declaration, free of adhesion, whose objective is to establish the rules for all persons working at EMPORIA DMC regarding the protection of children and adolescents from any form of sexual exploitation related to travel and tourism.
Article 2: DEFINITIONS.
For all purposes of this code, we adopt the following definitions:
• Children and adolescents: Children are considered to be all human beings from conception to twelve years of age, and adolescents are those between 12 and 18 years of age.
• Sexual exploitation of children and adolescents: It is considered a crime that, in various forms, is criminalized and includes activities such as sex tourism, child pornography, obscene exhibitions and publications involving minors.
• Child sex tourism: It is considered a crime that punishes those who promote, publish, facilitate or encourage sex tourism of children and adolescents through printed, visual, audio or electronic media for the purpose of offering sexual services.
Article 3: OBLIGATIONS
By virtue of this code and in order to take the necessary measures to protect children and adolescents against sexual exploitation, the people who are part of EMPORIA DMC commit themselves to:
• Publish an ethics policy expressing EMPORIA DMC's position against CSEC.
• To develop ethical corporate policies against any form of child sexual exploitation and not to favor people or companies involved, consciously or unconsciously, in these activities.
• Include clauses in all contracts with customers and suppliers in every area of our administration, explicitly stating the rejection of any form of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents.
• Acting as prevention agents, facilitating the training of company employees to acquire knowledge that will enable them to act against child sexual exploitation.
• Inform our customers and suppliers about our position against CSEC.
• Report any knowledge or suspicion of child sexual exploitation to the appropriate authorities.
This commitment was signed on July 2, 2024 and updated on February 5, 2025.