Awareness Archives - Page 11 of 36 - Shared Hope International

January 14, 2016 by SHI Staff

Human Trafficking: What You Need To Know – Focus on the Family Best of 2015

On January 19 and 20, Shared Hope International will return to Focus on the Family radio network. Our 2-part series, Human Trafficking: What You Need to Know, was selected for the Best of 2015 lineup, airing this month. We invite you to tune in, and invite everyone you know to tune in as well.

Recently, Focus on the Family sent us this note from one parent who
happened to tune in at just the right time. What happened next will bring you to tears.

“When I heard your broadcast on human trafficking, my heart broke. My daughter, who was 13 years old at the time, was experiencing all the signs that the guest described, and I was truly worried. I decided to search my daughter’s room and much to my alarm, I found stripper clothing and wads of money. When I discovered these things, I knew that it was no accident that I just ‘happened’ to be driving and I clicked on the radio at the exact time of your radio program. I knew that God had specifically provided for me. My father’s heart was pierced, and I called and spoke to one of the [Focus on the Family] counselors, who helped me contact help and place my daughter into a residential treatment center. Thank you for airing this broadcast because through it you have saved the life of a precious child from the chains of slavery.”

Please join us and invite everyone you know. You don’t know the impact it will make and the lives it might save. Join us January 19 and 20. Find a station in your area or listen online.

December 30, 2015 by webdesigner

3 Reasons Why Every Pastor Should Attend the JuST Faith Summit

A national epidemic has been ignored for too long, a dark addiction fueled by instant access to pornography, spawning a commercial sex industry that is consuming our children. And everyone pays the price—the child whose innocence is stolen, the man who can’t overcome his addiction, and the society that bears the loss of both. Our world has been helpless to stop the tide because we, the church, have remained silent. Frozen in fear, in ignorance, in disillusion. But, together in our many faiths, we have the power to push away the darkness.

It’s there, and it’s waiting for you to notice..

Children are being bought and sold for sex every night—in America. We, the church, have a mighty role in addressing and stopping this tragedy, if we are ready and willing.

On April 20-22, 2016, we invite you to join us for the JuST Faith Summit in Orlando.

Here are 3 reasons why every pastor should attend the JuST Faith Summit:

1. Get Equipped – You want to help but don’t know where to start. We do. Join us to learn practical tools for getting started and finding a dynamic and sustainable way to leverage your community’s resources to tackle trafficking.

2. Get Connected – There is a committed, dedicated team across the nation making meaningful strides in the fight against sex trafficking. We want you to meet them. Learn from others and share resources to make the biggest impact possible.

3. Get Inspired – Hear amazing stories of freedom, restoration, and change. We are launching a movement within the church to face the overlooked and ignored issue of sexual perversion and abuse and want you to be a part of it.

Please join us and together, let’s bring an end to this epidemic.

September 4, 2015 by Rachel Harper

Why wasn’t Jared Fogle charged with sex trafficking?

About two weeks ago, Jared Fogle, famous for his Subway sandwich diet, was indicted for two serious federal sex crimes: 1) receiving and distributing child pornography and 2) traveling to engage in illicit sexual contact with a minor. (Fogle has since pleaded guilty to both offenses).

Recently, public debate questioned, ”why wasn’t Fogle charged with rape?” But why not sex trafficking? The indictment alleges facts that would amount to sex trafficking under federal law, such as allegations that Fogle paid for sex acts with a minor in the Plaza Hotel and in the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New York City. The indictment also reports that Fogle offered to pay for sex with other minors and asked to be put in contact with other youth saying, “the younger the girl, the better.”

In May 2015 the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA) was enacted and clarifies that the federal crime of sex trafficking includes buyer conduct by adding “patronizes” and “solicits” as prohibited conduct. Importantly, force, fraud or coercion does not have to be proven when a minor is “caused to engage in a commercial sex act” to be sex trafficking. In fact, buyers commit sex trafficking offenses regardless of whether there is a third party or trafficker involved, as discussed in Shared Hope’s recent policy paper, Eliminating the Third Party Control Barrier to Identifying Juvenile Sex Trafficking Victims.

But what about New York’s ability to respond to this type of behavior and protect minors? The lack of appropriate state-level offenses is a glaring issue here. First, New York is an outlier as one of only 4 states that requires that force, fraud or coercion be used to identify a child who is bought or sold for sex as a victim of sex trafficking. Second, New York’s sex trafficking law does not apply to buyers, but only someone who “intentionally advances or profits from prostitution.” (Profiting from prostitution is defined to specifically exclude patrons.) Third, New York’s CSEC (Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children) offenses only protect victims under 14. The criminal offense of “Patronizing a prostitute” in New York would apply to buyers of older minors – the same way it applies to adults who are patronized –in the third degree, which is a Class A misdemeanor with a possible sentence of up to 1 year imprisonment and a possible fine not to exceed $1,000. So, in essence when wealthy buyers travel to NYC and exploit minors for sex, it is potentially a low level offense under New York state law. Although “patronizing a prostitute” in the first and second degree apply when minors under the age of 11 and 14, respectively, are exploited, this simply exacerbates unfair, damaging stigmas that minors of any age who are sexually commercially exploited are considered “prostitutes.”

Regarding our cultural understanding and the language used to refer to the sex trafficking or commercial sexual exploitation of children, the public debate and sensitivity is rightfully attuned. The exchange of money does not sanitize predatory behavior or the resulting victimization and underlying exploitation of minors’ vulnerabilities. Laws must be enacted and enforced, on both the federal and state level that apply to buyers with penalties that reflect the seriousness of these crimes.

July 27, 2015 by SHI Staff

The CODE Campaign: Tourism Child-Protection Code of Conduct & the ‘#DoesYourHotelKnow?’ Campaign from ECPAT-USA

Countless arrests for cases of human trafficking occur at hotels. They are the ideal locations for pimps or traffickers to bring victims because there is anonymity, they can stay for short periods of time, and buyers of sex feel comfortable using hotels. As long as hotels are seen as an anonymous and low-risk venue for selling sex, this will continue to be where victims are exploited.

Our partner, ECPAT-USA, has created a Public Service Announcement on how sex trafficking victims are exploited in hotels. Watch now.

ECPAT-USA: “When asked, service providers and law enforcement agencies report that almost every single pimped victim they came in contact with has been exploited at one point in hotels.”

July 14, 2015 by SHI Staff

495 Child Sex Trafficking Victims Linked to Backpage.com; Visa, MasterCard, AmEx Cut Ties With Site

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, Visa, MasterCard, and American Express announced that the companies will no longer be a payment option on Backpage.com, an online classified site highly criticized for its role in facilitating child sex trafficking. According to Shared Hope International, 495 victims of child sex trafficking in 46 states and D.C. have been linked to Backpage.com. A study by YouthSpark in Atlanta, Georgia, found 53% of children receiving care from service providers across the country were bought and sold for sex on Backpage.com. With the recent decision of Visa, MasterCard, and American Express, many are wondering what’s next for Backpage.com and its impact on the future of the child sex trafficking industry.

Backpage.com has been at the center of national advocacy efforts for years, with thousands calling on the site to shut down its adult entertainment section. In 2013, Village Voice Media split from the online classified site after many major advertisers pulled their ads from the publication because of its association with Backpage.com. Legislators introduced new measures to increase accountability of online advertisers, like Backpage.com. Forty-seven state attorneys general and the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) endorsed and sent a letter to Congress advocating to amend the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA) to remove the barrier to state prosecution of online businesses in violation of trafficking and prostitution offenses.

Three sex trafficking victims recently appealed the dismissal of their lawsuit against Backpage.com, alleging that the site violated state and federal sex trafficking law. At least one prior case was brought against Backpage.com, in which it was able to prevail by hiding behind unintentional protections granted under the First Amendment and the CDA. This week, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey called on Backpage to shut down its adult entertainment section after 28-year-old Daniel Tejeda was indicted in the strangulation of 24-year-old Ashley Masi. Tejeda found his victim through an adult entertainment ad on Backpage.com.

Though efforts to pressure Backpage.com to shut down the adult entertainment section of the site have continued for years, the recent withdraw by credit card companies, at the request of Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, may impact Backpage.com’s pressure point: revenue. According to a spokesperson for Dart’s office, Backpage.com rakes in $9 million a month from the adult entertainment ads alone. In 2013, the site raised its prices, generating a 55 percent increase in revenue the first month.

In response to the recent shift in payment options, Backpage.com has temporarily allowed free basic ad posting. For users looking to upgrade their advertisement (i.e., automatic reposting or sponsored placement), Bitcoin, digital currency, is the only payment option. While free ads may trigger an immediate spike in new advertisements, the strategy could yield a long-term win for advocates if the company cannot identify an equally convenient alternative payment option.

“Backpage.com has one evident motive—revenue,” Linda Smith, President and Founder of Shared Hope International said. “Regardless of their intent, Backpage.com’s woeful supervision of the content of their site has enabled child sex trafficking. If law suits, legislation, letters, petitions, and now a murder won’t sway them to close down the adult services section, perhaps a hit in the pocketbook will.”

Media Contact
Taryn Offenbacher
Communications Director, Shared Hope International
602-818-3955 cell
taryn@sharedhope.org

ABOUT SHARED HOPE INTERNATIONAL: Shared Hope International leads a worldwide effort to prevent, restore, and bring justice women and children exploited through sex trafficking. For more information about Shared Hope International, visit www.sharedhope.org.

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