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Home>Archives for SHI Staff

February 2, 2022 by SHI Staff

January National Slavery & Human Trafficking Prevention Month – Faith In Action Webinar Series

By Anna Given

National Slavery & Human Trafficking Prevention Month Faith in Action Webinar Series

 

Shared Hope was pleased to have Pastors Jo and Nick Lembo host our Faith in Action webinar series throughout the month of January for National Slavery & Human Trafficking Prevention Month. Jo Lembo is Shared Hope’s Director of Faith Initiatives and Nick Lembo is a member of the Shared Hope Board of Directors and the State Coordinator for Just Men Arizona.  

Each week, Jo and Nick walked us through the Faith in Action Kit booklets, sharing a different aspect of anti-human trafficking from the faith perspective. Starting off the series Jo and Nick spoke about transforming the home and community.  They discussed how parents can provide protection for their children online and have conversations with their children about their online presence. In this presentation, Jo and Nick spoke directly to why women care about ending child sex trafficking, and Nick shared his perspective on the influence of women from Biblical examples and their powerful influence today. 

The next week they discussed promoting an environment of respect. We live in confusing times and there is power in unity! Nick discussed how to be respectful in today’s culture “I don’t want my son to become a predator…” and the on the flip-side, “how do my I prevent my daughter from becoming exploited.” He also shared from his own experience, discussing how he became involved in the fight against child sex trafficking. Jo also shared her side of the story and how they became who they are today. 

In our third webinar, Jo and Nick focused on empowering youth and addressed these pressing questions: what are the root issues that cause minor sex trafficking in the USA? “What are kids looking for and why?”, “what are the vulnerabilities of victims,” and “How can I protect my kids from being preyed upon?” They also discussed tips of instilling respect in our children for themselves and others, a challenge in today’s culture that so often seems driven by sex. 

During our final webinar Jo and Nick discussed using your influence to engage community leaders. They focused on how we can use our communities to bring justice and reformation when we learn how to tap into our influence. As pastors, both Jo and Nick have experienced the privilege of leading in their community. Each shared their perspective on how to create dialogue with leaders in your community.  

Resources: 

Faith in Action Kit – Shared Hope International 

Here are resources to connect with us and empower you to protect children: 

Sign the Defender’s Pledge: https://sharedhope.org/takeaction/become-a-defender/ 

Be a part of Faith Initiatives all year long to share the hope: https://sharedhope.org/faithinaction/

Pray for our partners around the world: https://sharedhope.org/faithinaction/prayersofhope/

 Free Download Slaying the Giant: https://sharedhope.org/free-anti-trafficking-resource-slaying-giant-practical-tools-combatting-sex-trafficking/

Protect children. Share the Warning Signs poster with others https://sharedhope.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/SHI_General-Warning-Signs.pdf 

Amazon.com: Good Pictures Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today’s Young Kids: 9780997318739: Kristen A Jenson, Debbie Fox: Books 

Protect Young Eyes: Internet Safety for Families, Schools, and Churches 

Educate others. Share free Internet Safety Tools: https://sharedhope.org/what-we-do/prevent/awareness/internetsafety/

Information just for youth: https://youthonline.sharedhope.org/

How to Keep Your Kids Safe Online https://sharedhope.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/SHI_InternetSafety_Mini-Guide_1.21.2021.pdf

Support meaningful legislation. Take action here https://act.sharedhope.org/actioncenter 

January 31, 2022 by SHI Staff

January 2022: Human Trafficking Awareness Month – Take Action

 

National Slavery & Human Trafficking Prevention Month

 

Each week during Human Trafficking Awareness Month, we brought you resources to help you move forward in your anti-trafficking work and advocacy. These resources are organized by the Three Pillars of Shared Hope, Prevent, Restore and Bring Justice. Today, we bring you more opportunities to put action into motion – to take what you have learned this month and to apply it today and beyond. We look forward to you joining us while we work to prevent sex trafficking, inform trauma-informed, restorative solutions for survivors and to bring justice at an individual and systemic level.

Prevent

  • Read Jo’s blog on Prevention
  • Sign up for our Weekend Warrior newsletter for 15 minutes of action each week.
  • Review our Internet Safety Resources
  • Follow us on Social Media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
  • Join us as a trained volunteer, equipped to educate your community as an Ambassador of Hope or Defender.
  • Pray with us
  • Take our Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking 101 e-learning course

Restore

  • Read Nancy’s blog on Restoration
  • Learn more about some of the Restorative Development programs Shared Hope supports.
  • Read about our Domestic and International Partners.
  • Consider donating to help us continue funding our partner programs.
  • View some of our Restoration focused webinars like:
    • The Role of Faith in The Recovery Process – A Survivor’s Perspective
    • In the Beginning: How Intergenerational Trauma and Traumatic Childhood Attachment Impact the Healing Journey

Bring Justice

  • Read Camryn’s blog on Bringing Justice
  • Review the Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking and then send it to your elected officials.
  • Learn more about Responding to Sex Trafficking Victim-Offender Intersectionality and review our field guidance tool for criminal justice stakeholders.
  • Check out our Federal Advocacy Action Center.​​​​​
  • Sign up to become a Grassroots Hero to receive updates on legislative initiatives, campaigns and urgent calls-to-action.

January 10, 2022 by SHI Staff

January 2022 – Human Trafficking Awareness Month: Restoration

by Nancy Winston, Senior Director

 

With the establishment of Shared Hope in 1998, efforts began with international partners and restoration was the sole focus. Starting here was the foundation for our education on what “restoration” really looked like. Early on, we provided safe places for some in India, Nepal, Jamaica, Fiji, and South Africa to escape lives of misery and live in places of safety. However, it quickly became clear that a place of safety was by no means an entire solution.  The words of one survivor made this quite clear: “What do you mean by restoration?  How can you restore something that was never there?”

This simple observation expanded our thinking on the subject.  One needs to produce something before it can be re-produced, create something before it can be re-created, and confirm something before it can be re-confirmed!  This was the beginning of our mission to Prevent. Restore. Bring Justice, and a more complete picture of restoration.

At Shared Hope, we often talk about the three pillars of focus to bring an end to sex trafficking—Prevent. Restore. Bring Justice.  Those of us who work within the organization typically orient around one of those priority areas. However, as our anti-trafficking movement has matured domestically, we have come to see the priorities more as overlapping layers of fabric making something like a garment of protection. Here in the US, there are children raised in abusive homes, who may go through seven or eight subsequent foster care homes. They flee these dangerous situations on their own, only to get entangled with a trafficker by deception, out of desperation. Even more tragically, they often get involved in a crime because they are the criminal’s property and at the scene. These are the children for whom we actively advocate with our State Report Cards. They needed information to prevent them from falling prey to traffickers. They needed a stable system of care if their birth family couldn’t provide it. They needed to have an alternative to the desperate run in search of someone/anyone who cared. They needed access to trauma informed resources that would treat them with compassion and respect despite their resistance.  They needed to have an advocate who understood the circumstances that involved them in a crime as a perpetrator, though they themselves were victims of crime. They needed the law to recognize that and protect rather than punish them. This is the reality that too many children face today, boys and girls alike. At Shared Hope, we believe that addressing and correcting the deficiencies in each layer of fabric will constitute something new—a garment of protection.

This is why we have chosen domestic grant partners who play a role in one or more of the layers that make up that garment.  In fiscal year 2022, we are providing grants to 11 different NGOs from all parts of the USA that provide those things most needed by survivors–safe housing, pro bono legal services, life skills training, therapy to cope with complex trauma, personal empowerment, and the opportunity for spiritual healing and growth.  One grant partner provides training for human trafficking investigators, another, pro-bono legal services; two others are dedicated to freeing boys and young men from the devastation of sex trafficking. These partners all have missions that fit very well with the priorities we have had and continue to have–to Prevent, to Restore and to Bring Justice.  Justice served is itself restorative; the best path to restoration is the administration of true justice.

Justice served is itself restorative; the best path to restoration is the administration of true justice.

Shared Hope began with international partners; restoration was the sole focus and we provided a safe place for some in India, Nepal, Jamaica, Fiji and South Africa to escape a life of misery and to flourish.  We will be faithful to continue our efforts internationally, but it is here in the USA that we have the opportunity to assemble a garment of prevention, restoration and justice through influencing the laws of the land.

Take Action –

Now that you have read about the importance of restoration work in the fight against human trafficking, here are a few take action steps:

  • Learn more about some of the Restorative Development programs Shared Hope supports.
  • Read about our Domestic and International Partners.
  • Consider donating to help us continue funding our partner programs.
  • Send the Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking to your elected officials.
  • Check out our Advocacy Action Center 
  • Follow us on Social Media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
  • View some of our Restoration focused webinars like:
    • The Role of Faith in The Recovery Process – A Survivor’s Perspective
    • HT and Brain Trauma: From Science to Service
    • Legal First Responders: Closing The Justice Gap for Human Trafficking Survivors 
    • In the Beginning: How Intergenerational Trauma and Traumatic Childhood Attachment Impact the Healing Journey

July 24, 2020 by SHI Staff

Shared Hope International Attends: OSCE 20th Alliance Against Trafficking in Persons

By: Natalie Assaad

 

Shared Hope Attends: OSCE 20th Alliance Against Trafficking in Persons

The OSCE Office of the Special Representative and Co-Ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings held the 20th OSCE Alliance Conference against Trafficking in Persons this past week from July 20 – 22, 2020. In reflection of the 20th anniversary of the passing of the Palermo protocol, the conference focused on the lack of impunity of trafficking perpetrators globally. Despite an estimated 25 million victims of trafficking, only 11,096 traffickers were prosecuted in 2019. This amounts to approximately one prosecution for every 2,275 victims.

Conducting financial investigations in trafficking cases was emphasized by panelists and speakers, and first discussed by Albania’s Minister of Interior, Mr. Sandër Lleshaj. He discussed the importance of confiscating money and assets in trafficking cases, which was addressed by an Albanian law passed in 2020. This law requires individuals to prove the legality and origins of their assets if they were previously convicted of a particular set of criminal activities, including human trafficking. Barry Koch, Commissioner on the Financial Sector Commission on Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking, further discussed the use of financial data and records as effective weapons in fighting trafficking. Not only does financial data identify victims and perpetrators, but it proves coercion, corroborates witness testimony, and is the driving force behind a perpetrator’s activities. Mr. Koch recommended expanding the use of forfeiture assets to provide remedies to survivors, implementing global standards of crypto currency and the dark web to prevent criminal anonymity, and encouraging financial institutions to conduct periodic risk assessments to evaluate their exposure to human trafficking.

Ghada Waly, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) discussed the effects of COVID-19 on human trafficking. The UNODC found that the increase in time spent online has provided traffickers with more opportunities to exploit victims while surges in poverty rates has heightened victim vulnerability. The UNODC also looked at past economic recessions and pandemics to study how the current pandemic may exacerbate trafficking. They found that countries who had higher unemployment rates as a result of not recovering as fast as other countries also had an increase in cross-border human trafficking.

Hilary Axam, the Director of the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit at the Department of Justice, emphasized the need for a victim-centered, trauma-informed response for survivors, along with the necessity of political will. Not only does a victim-centered, trauma-informed response require intensive training, but it requires the unlearning of typical training law enforcement receives. For example, a survivor’s difficulty in recalling memories, emotional reactions, or conflicting statements are typically viewed as unreliable by law enforcement, however trauma-informed expertise indicates that these actions are common in traumatized survivors. Further, mobilizing political will is crucial, but is a resource-intensive undertaking that does not provide quick results.

On the last day, Dr. Myria Vassiliadou, an independent expert and former EU anti-trafficking coordinator, provided a compelling presentation on anti-demand and the trafficking chain. Dr. Vassiliadou pointed out that our culture not only tolerates tens of thousands of trafficking victims but normalizes it through society and criminal justice systems. She stated that any criminal justice system that treats trafficking in a restricted manner by focusing only on the trafficker or victim instead of the trafficking chain and driving forces is bound to fail – as proven by the current statistics of prosecutions and victims internationally. Dr. Vassiliadou stressed the fact that trafficking is purely economically driven, and that impunity can only be achieved by eliminating economic demand.

Valiant Richey, Special Representative and Co-Ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings, ended the conference with a necessary proposal –that all participating states triple the number of current prosecutions within the next three years. Mr. Richey stated that his office will offer support to participating states in designing and implementing effective strategies, such as training judges and law enforcement, conducting more financial investigations, building more prosecutions without survivor testimony, and implementing victim-centered, trauma-informed approaches.

Though shared from an international perspective, several of the themes and concerns addressed throughout the conference directly impact the United States’ response to domestic minor sex trafficking. For example, Dr. Vassiliadou emphasized the need to diminish demand and address the entire trafficking chain. Under federal law, buyers can be identified as sex trafficking offenders with or without the existence of an identified trafficker. However, the trafficking laws in several states exclude buyer conduct, and others fail to prosecute buyers despite their laws. In recognizing that the sex trafficking industry is fueled by demand and failing to address it comes at the cost of thousands of children’s lives, Shared Hope has developed a body of anti-demand resources. For more information, please visit https://sharedhope.org/resources/policy-research-resources/#endingdemand.

Further, the conference’s emphasis on political will strongly aligns with Shared Hope’s policy work. Shared Hope works tirelessly with survivors, advocates, and legislators to reform legislation in order to promote the non-criminalization of child survivors and the implementation of specialized services. This avoids re-traumatization of child survivors and equips states to respond with a trauma-informed, victim-centered approach through individualized, specialized services. For more information on Shared Hope’s non-criminalization efforts, please visit https://sharedhope.org/what-we-do/bring-justice/non-crim/. You can also take action by signing Shared Hope’s petition to end the criminalization of child sex trafficking survivors.

January 23, 2020 by SHI Staff

Shared Hope International Releases Sex Trafficking Victim-Offender Intersectionality Report, Promoting Just Responses to Victims in the Criminal Justice System

The collaboration with the Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation at Villanova Law follows a three-year study of the phenomenon of treating sex trafficking victims as criminals

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Shared Hope International, a non-profit leader in the fight to eradicate domestic minor sex trafficking, today announced the release of “Responding to Sex Trafficking Victim-Offender Intersectionality: A Guide for Criminal Justice Stakeholders”. A collaboration of Shared Hope’s JuST Response Council and the Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE Institute) at Villanova Law, the report will serve as a field guide for criminal justice stakeholders, supporting an overall shift toward a victim-centered approach that recognizes a survivor’s underlying victimization when facing sex trafficking charges.

Shared Hope unveiled the report during a presentation and panel discussion at its Institute for Justice & Advocacy, a Washington, D.C.-based education, research and training center, which opened today.

The report provides resources for anyone who interacts with a sex trafficking victim-offender within the criminal justice system, including law enforcement, judges, defense attorneys, probation officers and victim witness advocates. It seeks to mitigate the risk of injustice when the control exerted by sex traffickers and the influence of trauma on a victim’s decision-making and behavior are not considered.

“A sea change is still needed in how our world looks at, responds to and cares for sex trafficking victims,” said Linda Smith, Shared Hope’s founder and president, and a former U.S. Congresswoman. “This report is a long-overdue resource for understanding and addressing the circumstances that result in treating victims as criminals.”

The CSE Institute educates and provides technical assistance to those who respond to commercial sexual exploitation, promoting victim-centered, trauma-informed multidisciplinary collaboration.

“As a former prosecutor who now routinely educates prosecutors and engages in policy and legislative reforms, I consistently remind prosecutors that the most powerful tool they have is the one of discretion,” said Shea Rhodes, director and co-founder of the CSE Institute. “When making decisions about which cases to charge and bring to trial, it is critical that prosecutors investigate trafficking cases using victim-centered trauma-informed strategies to ensure that the outcomes are fair and just for all involved.”

For the last decade, Shared Hope has graded states on the strength of their child sex trafficking laws through its Protected Innocence Challenge. While the national average grade rose from an F to a B since the Challenge began, the grade for victim protection laws is barely a C at 71.2 percent.

“While we recognize the challenges that arise when trafficking victims are alleged to have engaged in trafficking conduct, approaches such as charging victims as co-conspirators, which effectively deny their underlying victimization and prevent access to comprehensive services, harm victims as well as the effort to bring their exploiters to justice,” said Christine Raino, Shared Hope’s senior director of public policy. “The progress made crafting new legislation that properly punishes sex traffickers is undermined when the laws are implemented in a way that is not victim-centered and trauma-informed.”

The field guidance focuses on three primary objectives:

  1. To improve identification of sex trafficking victim-offenders who have come into contact with the criminal justice system
  2. To enhance understanding of victim-offenders’ conduct through a sex trafficking- and trauma-informed lens
  3. To identify alternative responses to victim-offenders that take into account the impact of their own victimization on their potential involvement in sex trafficking conduct

Shared Hope’s JuST Response Council comprises policy advocates, government officials, medical professionals, law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, academics and service providers. Several members are survivor leaders. Members share the goals of preventing juveniles from becoming sex trafficking victims and ensuring that youth who have been trafficked have access to the tools and support necessary to heal from the trauma they have endured and the skills to create and sustain a life away from trafficking.

To read the “Responding to Sex Trafficking Victim-Offender Intersectionality: A Guide for Criminal Justice Stakeholders” report, visit https://sharedhope.org/what-we-do/bring-justice/just-response-council/

ABOUT SHARED HOPE INTERNATIONAL
Founded in 1998 by then U.S. Congresswoman Linda Smith, Shared Hope International strives to prevent the conditions that foster sex trafficking, restore victims of sex slavery, and bring justice to vulnerable women and children. A non-profit Christian organization, Shared Hope engages in diverse activities that confront sex trafficking in communities throughout America. Our efforts include training first responders and community members to identify warning signs of trafficking and employ intervention techniques to rescue child trafficking victims; providing restorative services to affected children and women; and offering legislative support to those focused on strengthening laws that fight child sex trafficking. Our vision is to coordinate a national U.S. network of protection to improve the response to victims of trafficking. We believe we can create a world where every survivor is surrounded by trained professionals, an alert community, just law and policy, knowledgeable service providers and appropriate shelter options.

MEDIA CONTACT: Rosemary Ostmann, RoseComm for Shared Hope International, rostmann@rosecomm.com, 201-615-7751.

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  • The Problem
    • What is Sex Trafficking?
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    • Prevent
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