Shared Hope International honors Marian Hatcher for dedication to fighting demand for sex trafficking
ARLINGTON, VA. – Marian Hatcher, Project Manager at the Sheriff’s Women’s Justice Programs for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, has been named a 2014 Pathbreaker Award recipient for her determined leadership in pursuing the buyers of sex trafficking.
Marian Hatcher escaped from the world of commercial sex. At 38 years old, Hatcher was well established— holding a Finance degree from Loyola University, advancing in the corporate world, and living in a good neighborhood in Chicago with her five children. However, she entered a relationship with a man who abused and threatened Hatcher and her family. Depression caused Hatcher to turn to drugs, resulting in prostitution to support the habit. She served four months in jail, enrolled in the Cook County Sheriff’s Women’s Justice Programs, before her release and subsequent employment by the same program.
Today, Hatcher has been with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) for 10 years. She is the Human Trafficking Coordinator and member of the Human Trafficking Response Team. She coordinates several of CCSO’s anti-trafficking efforts such as the “National Day of Johns Arrests,” a nationwide effort with more than 59 participating federal, state and local law enforcement agencies targeting buyers of sex as the driving force of sex trafficking. As a national expert on combating the demand for commercial sex, she has testified before the Illinois and Colorado legislatures, has been featured in the OWN documentary “Prostitution: Leaving the Life” which focused on her work as a survivor advocate and the Ink 180 Documentary. In July 2014, her article “Ten Years and Counting” was published in Police Chief Magazine as a companion article to a piece written by Cook County Sheriff, Thomas J. Dart, both focused on human trafficking.
“Marian Hatcher is a brave example of a survivor who overcame great strongholds to free herself and blaze a path of freedom for others,” Shared Hope International President and Founder Linda Smith said. “She has made significant contributions in the fight to hold buyers accountable for their crime and to eliminate tolerance for commercial sexual exploitation.”
In 2000, the U.S. Department of State engaged Shared Hope International to hold Pathbreaking Strategies Conferences in six countries to energize the global conversation about the issue of trafficking and share innovative approaches to combat the problem. The conferences led to significant change in the global landscape of national responses to trafficking in countries that were behind the global community and enabling an environment that was fostering trafficking with no developed response. During this process, the Pathbreaker Award was established to recognize the pioneering efforts of individuals throughout the world who broke the trend of inaction and initiated proactive responses to prevent trafficking. See all Pathbreaker Award recipients.
The 2014 Pathbreaker Award recipients also include Congressman Frank Wolf (VA-10) and Brendan Johnson, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota. U.S. Attorney Johnson and Ms. Hatcher will accept the award on November 7 during Shared Hope International’s JuST Conference in Washington, D.C.
MEDIA MATERIALS
For media convenience, a variety of video clips and resources, including survivor comments, are available at this location: vimeo.com/sharedhope/albums. Clips are password protected, please contact Taryn Offenbacher at Taryn@sharedhope.org for access.
ABOUT SHARED HOPE INTERNATIONAL: Shared Hope International was established in 1998, by former U.S. Congresswoman Linda Smith, to prevent, restore, and bring justice to women and children in crisis. We provide leadership in awareness, training, prevention strategies, restorative care, research, and policy initiatives. For more information about Shared Hope International, go to www.sharedhope.org
For more information contact Taryn Offenbacher at (602) 818-3955 or taryn@sharedhope.org.
