2016 Annual Report
Significant Events
Adding a World Class Expert
We had the privilege of bringing Ernie Allen, a world-class expert on child abduction and victimization, onto our Shared Hope team, as Special Advisor to the President. Ernie founded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, built a missing children’s network spanning 23 nations, trained law enforcement personnel in 121 nations, and much more. His participation in the work of Shared Hope is tremendously increasing our effectiveness.
2016 Pathbreaker Awards
The Pathbreaker Award was established to recognize the pioneering efforts of individuals who are breaking the trend of inaction and initiating proactive responses to prevent and defeat sex trafficking. Since 2010, the Pathbreaker award has gone to individuals who are impacting the issue in the U.S.
Shared Hope International was pleased to award the 2016 Pathbreaker Awards to Michelle Guymon and Margie Quinn, and to honor Congressman Chris Smith with the Lifetime Pathbreaker Award.
Congressman Chris Smith U.S. Representative from New Jersey, Lifetime Pathbreaker Award
Michelle Guymon, Director of Child Trafficking Unit, Los Angeles County Probation Department
Margie Quinn, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
Prevention
Prevention Highlights
Health Care Professionals
This guide and video series improves identification of and response to domestic minor victims of sex trafficking in various health care settings. Created by professionals and reviewed by leaders in the health network, our Practitioner’s Guide offers a comprehensive understanding of domestic minor sex trafficking, including trafficker tactics for recruitment and control, victim vulnerabilities, psychological and physical indicators, and survivor experiences with the health care system.
Faith-In-Action Kit Launch
We launched our Faith-in-Action Kits for faith communities across the nation, starting with JuST Faith Summit attendees. The Kit equips committed faith leaders to address the threat of sex trafficking in their churches and communities. Each contains Chosen PLUS, our most effective training tool and awareness resource; Tools for Men, Youth, and Women, complete with discussion questions, a four-week small-group study guide, faith-in-action ideas, sermon notes for pastors, a Sex Trafficking 101 fact sheet for leaders, a How-to-Respond Guide for law enforcement personnel, a 30-day prayer guide, and a selection of short educational videos.
JUST Conferences
JuST Faith Summit, April 2016, Florida
Shared Hope kicked off the JuST conference series with the first JuST Faith Summit in Florida, April 2016. Focused on equipping the church to respond to sex trafficking, attendees received training on Prevention, Restoration and Justice, featuring many prominent speakers including 12 survivor leaders. An evening worship concert was led by Michael W. Smith.
JuST First Response, July 2016, Arizona
This conference provided advanced training for anti-trafficking professionals working in victim services, legal representation, law enforcement, prosecution, judiciary and court services, child welfare, and health care.
JuST Conference, November 2016, Washington, DC
For the 3rd year we held the National JuST Conference in Washington, DC, welcoming law enforcement, survivors, lawyers, prosecutors, service providers, advocates and community members to be inspired, educated and equipped to fight juvenile sex trafficking.
Restoration
Restoration Highlights
Villages of Hope (International)
Shared Hope provided support for five international partners in 2016 including two in India, two in Jamaica and one in Nepal. We have historically helped multiple international partners build their own “Village of Hope”.
Our current Village of Hope project with SPARSH in Pune, India began with the purchase of land in 2016 for construction of permanent housing. SPARSH cares for children who have been given this opportunity to escape the brothel where their mothers are entrapped.
JuST Response Council Releases New Report
The JuST Response Council, launched in 2015 by Shared Hope, is made up of 40 leaders in the anti-sex trafficking movement, including survivor advocates, from around the country. The Council’s purpose is to identify priority issues related to victim restoration.
In 2016, the Council released its new JuST Response Protective Response Model guidance report — promoting best practices for working with child sex trafficking survivors, providing guidelines for service providers and promoting a systemic protective response at the federal and state level.
Grants to Domestic Partners
In 2016 Shared Hope supplied grants and technical assistance to 11 partners in the U.S., supporting their ability to provide the following services to survivors:
- outreach and counseling
- shelter and therapeutic care
- textbook scholarships
- virtual mentoring where services may not be available locally
- bi-lingual case management
- group case management
- therapeutic foster care
These are just a few examples of the amazing work our domestic partners are doing to empower survivors in their journey of restoration. Shared Hope is proud to support them!
Bring Justice
Justice Highlights
2016 Protected Innocence Challenge Report Cards
Our Protected Innocence Challenge releases 51 report cards every year, grading each state and D.C. on the strength of its laws to fight child sex trafficking. This year nine states raised their grade, and a total of 30 states have now received As and Bs. We’re continuing to advocate for all states to strengthen their laws until they achieve an A for protecting their children from trafficking.
Amicus Brief on Backpage.com U.S. Supreme Court Case
Shared Hope filed an Amicus “Friend-of-the-Court” Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Does v. Backpage.com case. This brief encouraged the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case of three trafficking victims from Massachusetts who were sold on backpage.com. Their story was also featured in the acclaimed documentary I Am Jane Doe by film maker Mary Mazzio, in which Shared Hope staff also appeared.
Giving and Financials
Shared Hope is supported by a multitude of generous donors each year. In 2016 we were pleased to meet with one of our Legacy Donors, Malcolm Burnett, to hear the story of why he gives to Shared Hope.
Honoring the Influence of Generations
Supper was family time when Malcolm was growing up in a small town in Washington. Conversations at the Burnett family table revolved around current affairs and the family’s history, and Malcolm was an avid listener.
One evening in the 1930s, Malcolm’s paternal grandfather shared a story that made a lasting impression on his junior-high-aged grandson. Dr. Charles Flagg, serving as a U.S. Army surgeon in Fort Vancouver, was given the responsibility of examining, treating, and keeping medical records for prostituted women due to the high patronage of the troops. Dr. Flagg treated many of the prostituted women during his time at Fort Vancouver, and observed troubling trends in their health including untimely death from disease.
Malcolm, now in his nineties, still remembers his grandfather emphatically say, “What happens to these women is wrong! Prostitution is wrong!”
Because his grandfather had described prostitution as a “vicious heartless business,” and his stories made an indelible impression on his grandson Malcolm has held a firm, lifelong belief that “sexual exploitation through prostitution should not be winked at and kept hush-hush, but should be fought like any other crime.” When he learned about Shared Hope, he became a lifelong supporter.
Balance Sheet
