Shared Hope International

Leading a worldwide effort to eradicate sexual slavery...one life at a time

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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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OVC TTAC Trafficking Webinar for Service Providers

Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center (OVC TTAC) Offers Human Trafficking Webinar Series for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Service Providers

Due to the coercive and abusive nature of human trafficking, it is common for victims to experience overlapping forms of victimization, particularly domestic violence and sexual assault. Despite experiencing complex forms of trauma, many survivors of trafficking are unrecognized, criminalized, or do not receive adequate services to address their complex needs.

Culminating September 24, OVC TTAC’s five-part webinar series aims to impart domestic violence and sexual assault service providers with the strategies, practical tips, case studies, and resources necessary to identify and aid survivors of human trafficking.

With topics ranging from Balancing Collaboration, Confidentiality and Privilege on Human Trafficking Cases to Collaborating with Culturally Specific Organizations to End Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, the series intends to promote a collaborative approach to victim identification and care.

Shared Hope is dedicated to providing training to increase the identification of those victimized and vulnerable to trafficking and improve the response of service providers and justice systems. Our largest training, the Juvenile Sex Trafficking (JuST) Conference, occurs this November: sharedhope.org/just2015.

To register for an OVC TTAC Trafficking Webinar, click below on the appropriate session title.

Topics, Dates and Registration

Collaborating with Culturally Specific Organizations to End Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault  — July 9, 2015 @ 2:30 p.m. ET

Working Together Part I: Law Enforcement — August 13, 2015 @ 2:30 p.m. ET

Working Together Part II: The Courts — September 24, 2015 @ 2:30 p.m. ET

Full Agenda

TOPIC: Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Sexual Assault: Strategies to Strengthen Community Collaboration to Respond to Survivors’ Needs

Go here to view webinar recordings and schedule.

OVC TTAC

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Buyers Beware: Mobilizing to End Demand

Without consequences for their actions, buyers continue to purchase sex and remain the driving force behind this industry.  Shared Hope releases a bold new video that features law enforcement agents and prosecutors on what it takes to mobilize to end demand!

“One of the critical gaps in addressing sex trafficking is the failure to address demand.” – Christine Raino, Shared Hope International

Rarely Facing Consequences

Over the years there has been an overwhelming attitude of tolerance towards buyers—“the demand”—in the sex trafficking industry. This attitude stems from beliefs that buyers are justified to purchase sex, even from minors, because it is a “fair exchange,” he’s helping the victim financially, or that buyers are simply good guys caught in the wrong moment. Indeed buyers themselves have had very little reason to fear getting caught for their behavior because they have been rarely forced to face consequences that reflect the weight of their actions.

Fueling Demand

Tolerance does little to deter current and future buyers from purchasing sex. Quite the opposite, it has fueled a continual demand for more supply (victims). Overall, tolerance has been a major setback to efforts seeking to end the injustices of sex trafficking. This is why Shared Hope International is taking a stance against the tolerance for buyer behavior.

When caught, far too many buyers are simply let off the hook or, if convicted, not given severe penalties or jail time according to the Demanding Justice Report. As Sergeant Clay Sutherlin from the Phoenix Police Department explains, “There’s a large number of men out there that are looking for these girls, knowing that they can abuse them, rob them, rape them…and they’re going to get away with it.”

Shared Hope released a bold new video that features law enforcement agents and prosecutors on what it takes to mobilize to end demand!

Watch the Video

Taking Action

Visit demandingjustice.org to see news related to demand in your state. Or check out our latest report, the Arizona Field Assessment, to see how Arizona is working to fight demand through deterrence, enforcement and justice!  Sign the Dear John Letter, an open letter to buyers.

Together, we can start bringing an end to demand and protecting further innocent lives from falling captive to the world of sex trafficking.

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Open Letter to Hawaii Gov. Ige: Establish State’s First Sex Trafficking Law

Hawaii: last state without a sex trafficking law

Shared Hope International, Family Programs Hawaii, Ho ‘ōla Nā Pua, and IMUAlliance have sent a letter to Hawaii Governor Ige encouraging him to allow the enactment of SB 265, which would be the state’s first sex trafficking law.

Learn More

Proposed Advancements for Juvenile Sex Trafficking Victims in Hawaii’s Senate Bill 265 (PDF)

Re: Enactment of Senate Bill 265

Dear Governor Ige:

We, the undersigned organizations, strongly urge you to sign SB 265 and enact Hawaii’s first sex trafficking law, a desperately needed piece of legislation. Hawaii is the only state in the nation that does not have a law specifically criminalizing sex trafficking, but this could change with your signature.

Hawaii and Maui County prosecutors and advocates have supported the 2015 state legislature in passing Senate Bill 265. Both the Senate and the House have voted to establish the crime of sex trafficking in Hawaii and strengthen Hawaii’s ability to combat this serious crime. This bill not only renames “promoting prostitution in the first degree” as “sex trafficking” but it makes a significant change to avoid stigmatizing victims and embody a national trend toward protecting rather than blaming victims. The bill also adds tools that aid enforcement and investigation. Contrary to claims by some opponents of the bill, SB 265 accomplishes much more than change “for the sake of change.”

Senate Bill 265 defines the crime of sex trafficking, recognizing that individuals exploited through commercial sex through “force, threat, fraud or intimidation” are victims of sex trafficking. Like 45 other states and the District of Columbia, this bill also criminalizes child sex trafficking regardless of whether any tactics of force, fraud or coercion were used. SB 265 ensures this crime will finally be acknowledged for what it is—sex trafficking—a severe and deeply harmful form of exploitation.

Contrary to claims that the bill would make prosecutions more difficult, the proposed law adds no additional elements of proof for the government to prosecute child sex trafficking cases. Sex trafficking would be a class A felony, the same penalty that currently applies under the promoting prostitution law. In addition, the bill adds a key enforcement tool—wiretapping, which would facilitate investigations of trafficking rings, especially those that operate as highly advanced criminal enterprises.

Moreover, SB 265 broadens victims’ access to justice by allowing anyone who is subjected to sex trafficking to bring lawsuits against their perpetrator(s). This change particularly affects child victims who currently would have to prove or allege coercion in order to pursue civil claims against those who trafficked them.

This bill accomplishes the important goal of clarifying the severity of harms inflicted on sex trafficking victims by correctly identifying the crime of sex trafficking. Language matters. Labeling victims of sex trafficking as prostitutes by criminalizing sex trafficking as an enhanced prostitution offense stigmatizes trafficking victims. Misidentifying sex trafficking as merely a prostitution offense obscures the realities of sex trafficking.

Advocates support enactment of SB 265, not as a formality but as a critical tool to fight against sex trafficking in Hawaii. Establishing a law that specifically criminalizes sex trafficking will serve as a fundamental cornerstone in that fight. Senate Bill 265 will enable Hawaii to more appropriately identify and protect victims, better hold perpetrators accountable, and shift societal norms to better reflect the realities of sex trafficking.

We urge you to sign Senate Bill 265 without delay to advance justice and restoration for victims of sex trafficking in Hawaii.

Sincerely,

Shared Hope International, Family Programs Hawaii, Ho ‘ōla Nā Pua, and IMUAlliance

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6 Summits Challenge Refocuses Efforts in Nepal After Natural Disasters

BALTIMORE, MD (APRIL 30, 2015) – This morning, April 30, 2015, Nick Cienski, Mission 14 Founder and CEO and Under Armour Senior Director of Innovation, along with the Mission 14 and 6 Summits Challenge team at Everest Base Camp (EBC), have decided to discontinue climbing Mount Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu as part of the 6 Summits Challenge. This decision was made out of respect for the families and individuals who have lost lives and homes during this terrible disaster.

“We feel it would be wrong for us to continue climbing these mountains,” said Cienski. “We have made the decision to rededicate our efforts in Kathmandu and provide help alongside our existing partner organizations such as Tiny Hands International, Shared Hope, and Catholic Relief Services.”

“We are still committed to the 6 Summits Challenge and raising global awareness for human trafficking by setting a world climbing record, as we were before the earthquake in Nepal. In the coming days and weeks, we will work closely with Russell Brice and our sponsor corporations to put a plan together that still makes this a possibility,” Cienski continues. “We want to thank everyone who supports this expedition and mission, and encourage you to BE BRAVE to continue to do good work in this fight for justice for all humanity.”

The 6 Summits Challenge team has been at EBC since early April acclimatizing for their expedition. Nick Cienski, Sandi Cienski – Mission 14 Director of Operations, Elia Saikaly – 6 Summits Challenge Videographer, Russell Brice – Himalayan Experience Owner and expedition leader, climbers Jarek Gawrysiak, Pawel Michalski, and Simone La Terra (Makalu base camp) are all unharmed.

6 Summits

About Mission 14 (www.mission14.org)
Mission 14®, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 2011, was created to discover new and engaging ways to raise awareness, engage difference makers, and to financially resource existing best-in-class direct-service non-profit organizations dedicated to fighting human trafficking with a focus on the trafficking of children.

About 6 Summits Challenge (www.6summitschallenge.com)
6 Summits seeks to become a world record-setting expedition focused on attracting a global audience to raise awareness on the issue of human trafficking and the fight for fundamental human rights and justice.

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