Shared Hope International

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

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Built-In Guardrails For When You Aren’t There

Part of the role of parents to effectively protect their kids is to know what is being taught in your school, and what your child is exposed to. That begins with your involvement in your child’s classroom however you are able.

  • Ask your child’s teacher how you can volunteer in the classroom. (Hint: Gramma or Grampa may be willing to fill this role as a volunteer.)
  • Attend PTA or PTO meetings regularly and take notes.
  • Always meet with your child’s teacher on Parent-Teacher Night.
  • Ask to be on a textbook review committee.
  • Be aware of what sex education curriculum is being taught. Some titles sound great…but aren’t appropriate for school-aged children.
  • Find out what social media protocols and guidelines look like.

Example: Ask if smartphones are allowed to be used in a bathroom at school, and what porn filters on public computers are in place throughout classrooms and the library. 

Through the school year, your child’s teacher becomes very familiar with each child. Be sure they have materials with the signs of trafficking to watch for: https://sharedhope.org/takeaction/report-trafficking/

Other ways you can help:

  1. Teach children there is safety in numbers! That maxim is true not only in person but also on social media.
  2. Teach students to only accept conversations online with those that they know personally (have they met them in person). Tell kids, before they talk to someone, they should ask themselves: “Do you know where they live, and where they go to school?”
  3. Do not trust friends of friends!

 Predators troll the Internet looking for telltale signs a youth may be vulnerable:

  • I hate my parents, I want to run away.
  • My curfew is stupid. They treat me like a baby.
  • Nobody understands me. I hate school.
  • My boy/girlfriend just broke up with me. I wish somebody loved me.
  • I wish someone would take care of me. Life sucks.
  • Nobody’s ever around. No one listens to me.
  • I wish I was popular.
  • I want to have sex.
  • I wish I could ask someone about these things.

As parents or guardians, we want our children to talk to us. But the reality is they may be more comfortable discussing their feelings with a trusted teacher, a friend’s parents, or another adult they trust. Give your child permission to speak to someone other than yourself when they don’t feel comfortable discussing something with you.

Show them a copy of How to Identify a Safe Adult and agree on who they can trust and why. Connect with that person and your child to lay a foundation of communication.

Be aware of after-school activities and oversight

  • Who is providing oversight and protection?
  • Know details about the specific activities in the community (after school sports, outings, field trips, extra-curricular clubs).
  • Who’s providing supervision for the participants and what protocols are in place?
  • Keep in mind the outline of what a safe adult looks/acts like, and what a predator looks/talks like. Help children understand they can walk away and ask for help if they feel uncomfortable or threatened.
  • Most predators become familiar and build trust. They take their time to breach boundaries, all the while being a friend to the child. Be sure your child knows “how to be rude to nice people.”

 Be aware of why DMST flourishes in sheltered environments such as private schools, church/parochial schools, homeschooled audiences, and rural communities:

Familiarity breeds a false sense of security When everyone knows everyone, trust is often assumed. Adults feel other adults and older teens are just like them and would ‘never’ think of a child in that way.

Be aware of the rise in pornographic exposure to younger and younger children, psychologists are warning about child-on-child sexual assaults. Unfortunately, this is often a child acting out what they’ve seen in pornography. Defending Young Minds is one of our favorite resources for protecting children.

We’ve all read the news stories where some horrific thing happened, and the neighbors all said, “They were so nice all the time. We never would have suspected this!”

Without causing fear, educate your children about body boundaries. What is and isn’t okay. How to tell a person “NO” firmly, then run away, and tell their safe adult.

Remember the swimsuit rule? It needs to be modified because it’s no longer enough to tell a child that no one should touch the parts of your body that a swimsuit covers. Why?

Because predators are often known to the child, they have access to them (offering to tutor them, give music lessons, take them on outings, or babysit) They may begin by stroking their hair, holding their hand, holding them on their lap or rubbing their back. When the child becomes accustomed to that attention, the predator will try to separate them from others and give them special attention by buying them special gifts offering them special outings. And then the child becomes accustomed to being alone with them and something happens…

Train your child that we don’t keep secrets.

We keep happy surprises (like what we bought Daddy for Christmas) but we share those at just the right time, and everyone likes it.

ALWAYS tell me if someone tells you not to tell. Or if they tell you “this is a secret for just you and me.”

 They may be threatened.
No one will believe you. You wanted me to do that. This is your fault.

Understand that when survivors of human sex trafficking are asked; “What is one thing that could have helped you from falling into this trap?” The answer often includes that they were “just looking for someone that would listen to them.”
That is the gap the predators are taking advantage of and how they manipulate and lure our children in. And they are masterful at the deceptive tactics they use. They discover the child’s hopes and dreams, hurts and needs. Then they devise a personality that meets those needs. Their initial encounters are to build trust and are generally not sexually overt in nature. Over time, they erode boundaries, build dependency, and erode the normal safety net of family and friends.

Understanding what to look for, and where to go for help, will keep your child safer!

 

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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:

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January 2022 – Human Trafficking Awareness Month: Prevention

By Jo Lembo, Director of Faith Initiatives & National Outreach

You are the key to Shared Hope’s success in fighting child and youth sex trafficking.

Shared Hope pursues a strong Prevention program to help you educate others.

The more people who know the signs of trafficking, and who know how to effectively respond, the smaller the world is for those who would buy and sell our children.

Through the years we have heard our audiences ask, “But what can I do?” and that question is the basis of our strategies. Faith Initiatives, the Ambassadors, and the Defenders all walk alongside you with practical training, toolkits, and resources to shine the light into the darkness. Building on your skills, interests and influence, we create materials that help you build a foundation of understanding that leads to taking action, and that results in a safer community.

Awareness begins in the home, in schools, communities, and churches. Shared Hope supports you with the basic building blocks to be proactive in educating those around you so they know,

  • what trafficking looks like,
  • what makes kids vulnerable,
  • what are the tactics of predators or pimps, and
  • how to respond effectively.

Growth Strategies reaches out to inform you through informational newsletters and podcasts to strengthen your resolve to continue to fight side-by-side with us. We help you understand the important part each of you has in protecting children. Your friendship and partnership with Shared Hope is vital to the work we do.

Through training webinars and conferences, Shared Hope offers programming with firsthand conversations with trained professionals, who share their experience along with powerful stories, that equip audiences to understand how to stop trafficking through prevention education. We draw speakers from not only licensed professionals, but also individuals with learned experience, and those who are providing direct services to survivors so they can thrive.

It’s simple: the more you know, the safer kids are.

Our policy team at the Institute for Justice and Advocacy is a strong influence in state and federal legislation that insures provision and protection measures for victims and survivors of trafficking. Working parallel to our awareness programs, we understand the importance of educating professionals such as law enforcement, judges and prosecutors, social workers, and many others who all come into contact with the victims of trafficking. This is why we’ve added an entire section to our Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking designed to encourage mandated trainings for key stakeholders and students. Those laws with an educated public, form a strong safety net to ensure the kind of care that gives hope to survivors that they can find a bright future.

Together, we will prevent commercial sex trafficking…one life at a time.

Take Action –

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

 

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Where Shared Hope Began: A Podcast with Linda Smith

“Here I was on what was supposed to be a five-minute call in my congressional office and I listened for 45 minutes. Just not able to put the phone down, hearing about children being sold for horrible acts and labeled prostitutes.” – Linda Smith, Founder & President of Shared Hope International.

If you haven’t heard, Shared Hope has joined the world of podcasts.

Invading the Darkness: stories from the fight against child sex trafficking podcast, features Linda Smith, the founder of Shared Hope International. We invite you to join Linda as she shares stories from her 23 years of fighting the battle of domestic minor sex trafficking.

Invading the Darkness is available now to stream on the most popular podcast platforms including Apple and Spotify.

In episode 2 of our inaugural season, Linda Smith shares how she first encountered the sexual exploitation of children. Listen as she recounts the pain of that moment and the resolve that came upon her to pierce the darkness with the light of hope.

Here’s an excerpt where Linda take us to where Shared Hope began:

“I think it would be easier for me to start from the beginning of Shared Hope, that’s where I realized how dark it was. Here I was on what was supposed to be a five minute call in my congressional office and I listened for 45 minutes. Just not able to put the phone down, hearing about children being sold for horrible acts and labeled prostitutes. I couldn’t sleep, I got a ticket to India and that very first night I asked to be taken to that place I’d been told about. I couldn’t believe what I saw and what I felt. I was on the streets of Bombay, India. I was still a member of the US Congress. I’d been told about the women and children who were being prostituted, but I just couldn’t believe it. They said that there were hundreds of thousands of women and children, I just couldn’t believe it.

In politics, people stretch the truth a little bit and I thought, “Oh, they’re not telling the truth,” but I couldn’t sleep. So they took me down to the brothel area called Falkland Road and there before my eyes was a crowded street and two storey places that there were little hands sticking out of the bars on the second storey and women and young girls standing in front of doors. I was shocked. The smell of incense, and urine, and diesel, body odor and we in America have a way of kind of not managing that real well. We don’t like things that smell bad, but I was more overwhelmed by the crowded streets of man after man, shoulder to shoulder shopping along both sides, two storeys with women and children who they would buy for a brief sex act or maybe longer for a few rupees and then walk on.”

You can listen to the entire episode here, or by subscribing to the podcast and listening on Apple or Spotify. Over the course of the next few months, you can expect a brand new episode each Tuesday.

Our desire is that each episode of Invading the Darkness will help you understand the importance of fighting child sex trafficking as well as equip you to join in that fight. Thank you for joining us. Together, we are invading the darkness and sharing hope with the many.

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Charges against Zephi Trevino must be dropped

Zephi Trevino was 16 years old when she was first trafficked by a young adult, Philip Baldenegro, who originally posed and acted as her boyfriend. Just prior to meeting Baldenegro online, Zephi had been abused and introduced to drugs by another boyfriend, resulting in trauma that manifested in depression and anxiety, a significant departure from the happy, healthy and engaged child she had always been. Exploiting her trauma, Baldenegro gave Zephi drugs, threatened her and her family, and sold her for sex to adult men. Zephi’s exploitation and trafficking ended the night that Baldenegro shot and killed a man he had arranged to buy and rape Zephi; however, her horrific experiences of injustice, misidentification, and unanswered calls for help did not cease.

Miscarriage of justice.

The night of the murder, Zephi should have been identified by law enforcement as a victim of sex trafficking. Instead, she was arrested as an accomplice in the murder of the very man who had paid to rape her. Upon further investigation, prosecutors and detectives on the case, who were immediately presented with evidence of her exploitation, should have identified her victimization, dropped charges, and referred her to specialized service providers. Instead, Zephi was held in detention for over a year on capital murder and aggravated robbery charges. Only after public outcry and the retention of new counsel was she released on bond and house arrest. Texas state law and federal law clearly define Zephi as a victim of child sex trafficking, yet her victimization is continuously denied by her trafficker’s defense team, whose perceptions of child sex trafficking and sexual violence victimization are both inaccurate and self-serving.

Realities of sex trafficking .

The blatant denial of Zephi’s victimization reflects the persistent misunderstanding of sex trafficking victims’ behavior. Despite concerted efforts by survivors and anti-trafficking allies to decry the “perfect victim” myth and shed light on the realities of victimization and resulting trauma behaviors, we continue to see survivors being denied the rights and protections afforded to victims of sex trafficking due to misidentification of their experiences. Rather than looking at the legal definition, prosecutors and even defense attorneys struggle to see victimization even when the facts spell it out, just as they do in Zephi’s case. Survivors of sex trafficking have endured and survived horrific sexual violence, in addition to often-present physical, psychological and emotional abuse, substance use, stigmatization, commodification, and isolation from healthy and safe support. These experiences, often result in trauma, mental health challenges, and substance dependency linked to self-blame and shame. For these reasons, child sex trafficking survivors almost never  self-identify or report their victimization. They don’t seek help from law enforcement, service providers, or even family and friends. Indeed, their traffickers often train them on how to hide their victimization, as Zephi’s trafficker did in this case.

One of the greatest challenges we face in combatting child sex trafficking is the lack of awareness that survivors’ trauma manifests in behaviors and decisions they see as necessary to survive their abuse. However, these are often behaviors and decisions that our systems then use to punish or discredit the survivor. This is the exact injustice Zephi is being subjected to; a history of substance use, running from home, and seeming indifference to violence are red flags of exploitation and abuse, not behaviors that discredit her experiences of trafficking victimization. Failing to fit within the fabricated box of “perfect victim” has not only resulted in additional trauma, it has her facing capital murder charges for a crime committed by her trafficker, deepening her involvement in a punitive system and isolating her from family and systems of support.

Your voice.

Your support matters! Using our collective voice to signal support for Zephi will encourage DA Creuzot to stand with sex trafficking survivors and bring justice to the plights they have experienced by dropping unjust charges against Zephi. Sign the petition today!

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