Shared Hope International

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Becoming a Student Activist

As I grew up in the Northern Virginia area, I had no idea that children were being bought and sold for sex up and down the I-95 corridor just miles away from my childhood home and eventual college campus. I, like many people, was introduced to the issue of sex trafficking by unwittingly watching a documentary. Outraged by realities I had never been forced to consider, I immediately wanted to take action and create change. When it comes to an issue as vast as sex trafficking, it can be daunting to know where to even begin. You have passion, ideas, and know you can make a difference. If the question is “where do I start?” the answer is simple: where you are.

[easy-tweet tweet=”If the question is “where do I start?” the answer is simple: where you are.” user=”sharedhope” hashtags=”HTAwarenessMonth” url=”http://bit.ly/2knVDhJ”]

Being a student activist can be tough, but is not impossible. In an attempt to positively channel my outrage about sex trafficking, I worked directly with my university to start a grassroots effort within my campus community designed to develop student activists engaged in educating others about the realities of sex trafficking. Our group worked to provide our community with informational materials, documentary screenings on campus, and open conversations about difficult topics. While researching anything and everything I could find on the issue, I found Shared Hope’s website and was amazed by not only the scope of their work, but also the amount of resources available to me at no cost. Later that year I applied to the Arlington, VA office internship program for the summer 2013 semester and was selected; it’s an understatement to say that my internship experience at Shared Hope changed my life.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Young people are the future of the anti-trafficking movement.” user=”SharedHope” hashtags=”HTAwarenessMonth” url=”http://bit.ly/2knVDhJ”]

I am now a Shared Hope staff member, but because of my internship experience, one of my absolute favorite parts of my job is coordinating the Arlington, VA office internship program. Young people are the future of the anti-trafficking movement and their engagement is critical. Our interns consistently amaze me with their hard work, eagerness to learn, and unlimited talents. Each and every one of our incredible interns has played a crucial role by donating their time, contributing new ideas, working extensively with SHI staff on emerging projects. As a young person, it is imperative for you to know that your passion and efforts matter, your voice and experience matters, and you matter more than you know in the fight to combat sex trafficking. Shared Hope has quarterly undergraduate internship programs in both offices (Vancouver, WA and Arlington, VA) and would love for you to apply.

Learn more about our internship program and view application requirements: http://sharedhope.org/about-us/join-our-team/internship/

By Katie Shaver – Shared Hope International Program & Intern Coordinator

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Homeless Youth & Trafficking in Arizona

Any child in the US could be at risk of being trafficked, but a new study released this winter by the Arizona State University School of Social Work, and funded by the McCain Institute for International Leadership, highlights youth who face multiple vulnerabilities putting them at high risk for trafficking.

Homeless Arizona young adults, ages 18-25, were interviewed for this study.  Of the 199 homeless youth surveyed, one-third identified themselves as victims of sex trafficking.  By gender, 1 out of every 3 female study participants, and 1 out of 4 male respondents self-reported that they had been sex trafficked.

“When asked if they had been pressured or forced into having sex for money, drugs, food, clothing, a place to stay or for protection, 66 young homeless adults – one in three – identified as being a sex trafficking victim.” 1

It is not just homelessness that puts these youth at risk, but a confluence of factors.  The study found that drug and alcohol addiction, mental health issues or a history of dating violence or physical, sexual or emotional abuse are all vulnerabilities that traffickers seek to exploit.  Particularly concerning is the use of technology, and in particular the internet, to facilitate the exploitation of youth.

“Technology was found to have played a role in the sex trafficking victimization as respondents indicated that sex traffickers used smart phones, social media, websites like Backpage.com and Craigslist.org and apps like Tinder to reach sex buyers.” 1

Buyers’ increasingly easy access to trafficked youth via the internet highlights the need to address the demand for sex with minors.  In 2015 Shared Hope published a field assessment analyzing demand in Arizona.  The Demanding Justice Arizona Field Assessment explored criminal justice outcomes and dynamics, making recommendations for how the state can further combat demand to protect children from sex trafficking.

As a result of this research, Shared Hope advocates for strong anti-demand laws and enforcement to be implemented across the nation.  We also join the call to action of this study to focus interventions for sex trafficked youth on runaway and homeless youth and on the role of the internet in facilitating the sex trafficking of youth across the socio-economic spectrum.

With continued research, strengthened laws and trained professionals we can reach our vision of a world intolerant of sex trafficking and a community committed to restoring survivors.

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1All quotes come from the McCain Institute for International Leadership press release.

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You Never Know Who’s In Your Audience

Sometimes grassroots activists feel like they aren’t having a huge impact. Let me share two stories that may motivate you to keep on keeping on!

In 2009 there was a presentation on sex trafficking at the WA state criminal justice training center – a relatively new topic to the general public at the time. The leader from a local church security team attended as a matter of continuing his education on the threats against the youth in his church. After the first general session, he called one of his pastors and said, “You need to come down here and hear this. Our kids are at risk and we know nothing about this!” Clearing her schedule, the pastor arrived just in time to attend the community advocates workshop with Shared Hope International’s project manager. Following that workshop, the Renting Lacy book was distributed to each attendee.

The pastor took home the book and couldn’t put it down; becoming convinced she had to do something. That pastor was me (Jo Lembo). Today I work full-time for Shared Hope International and my husband’s life is also dedicated to fighting sex trafficking. Our head of security had no idea he was introducing me to my life’s calling. And that presenter had no idea that her presentation would completely alter the course of our lives. You never know the impact of the conversation you’re having. Who have you talked to?

[easy-tweet tweet=”You never know the impact of the conversation you’re having. – Shared Hope International Blog by Jo Lembo”]

Shortly after reading the book Renting Lacy, my husband and I met Linda Smith and her husband, Vern. I was passionate about making a difference, but felt I had no skills to truly make an impact.  I said to her, “I’m not really making a difference.  All I do is talk.  I talk to my hairdresser, to my neighbors, to our friends (we could bring down a dinner party in two minutes by sharing ‘what is happening right now just a few miles from this restaurant…’) But I don’t want to be just be a talking head!”

Linda’s response is now the byline for the Ambassadors nationwide.  She said, “Never underestimate the power of educating others.  The more people who know the signs of trafficking, the smaller the world becomes for those who buy and sell our children.”

Since that encounter, I have learned to share the message with hope and not stop at telling about the issue, but to share what you can DO about it. As the National Outreach Manager, it is my privilege to empower and equip the nearly 1000 Ambassadors nationwide who are ‘talking’ about the issue everywhere they go.

So if you feel ordinary, that’s exactly what we need!  People like you to know the signs and what to do to prevent sex trafficking.

Become a trained Ambassador of Hope and make a difference!

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This blog is the first in a Shared Hope Blog Series for Human Trafficking Awareness Month. Stop back throughout the month to our New & Events page to read them all!

 

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And It Comes Full Circle

In September 2016, a community event was held in Vancouver, Washington, to educate the public about the signs of trafficking and how to protect our children. It was held in a church on NE 78th Street, and was attended by several law enforcement officers.  But it wasn’t just any church, and it wasn’t just any law enforcement in attendance. And it wasn’t just any citizens in the audience.

Seven years earlier, in the same church, a similar training had been held.

churchThe same law enforcement officers had come to hear Linda Smith share about the signs of trafficking, how it happens, what makes a kid vulnerable and what any citizen can do to help. When those uniformed officers left, they knew what they had been seeing, but hadn’t known what it was.  Now they began to see what had been in front of them all along.

A probation officer listened intently and left to go to the hospital where one of her charges was…again.  The teen had been beaten up again.  She’d run away again.  She’d been truant again.  Only this time, her probation officer knew the questions to ask her. And this time, the girl known as ‘Lacy’ felt safe enough to ask for help and was soon under police protection and moved 4,000 miles away for her safety.

In that room was a young man and his family.  They listened intently.  And just a short while later, when his friend asked him to help her move out and give her a ride back to Seattle to her newfound ‘friends’ after she brought back her dad’s car… well, Evan knew enough to ask questions and set in motion an intervention that saved Brianna’s life.

That night seven years ago, at that community presentation, the ordinary people in the room were instruments to help retrieve the two girls, whose story was later told in the video, Chosen. Lacy and Brianna were safe now because of a community presentation on the signs of trafficking.

And the video?  It was filmed in that same church, in their school hallway, stairwell and classroom. In 2016 it was shown to more than fifteen thousand teens across the nation. The difference in the film is stark: Lacy’s friends didn’t know what was happening to her or how to help her and she was enslaved for nearly two years. Brianna’s friend knew and took steps to rescue her and she was never sold into the horrific sex industry. The difference was knowing.

So in September, when we stood on the same stage in the same church, and talked to an audience of nearly 200 ordinary people, and showed Chosen, we were fully aware that the message had come full circle.  The officers who shared their stories and spoke in workshops were passionate to say, “You can prevent trafficking!  It will be people like you who make the difference. We didn’t know and then look what happened when we did know! You will be the eyes and ears to recognize the signs and warn young people so they’re smarter than the predators who would do them harm.  We will catch the bad guys, but please don’t make us rescue your kids too.”

And Brianna stood on the stage and shared how she was tricked. Because she didn’t know.

There we were, on the same stage with the same people who learned about trafficking seven years ago.  And look at all that has happened to educate young people across the nation. Now this crowd will make a difference because now they know.

It’s good to come full circle.

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Reshma and Angel’s Story of Hope

Reshma was little more than a child herself when she was lured from her remote village in Nepal to Kathmandu— then enslaved by a bar owner who sold girls for sex along with the drinks.  Soon she found she was pregnant…and regardless of the means, she was in love with the baby she carried.  Friendless and terrified in the tumult of Kathmandu, she silently promised her “Angel” a future.  When she heard of a missionary couple who would gladly take the baby, the decision was made.  Reshma surrendered Angel at birth, then found her way to a place an acquaintance told her about where she might stay for a while.  That place was Asha Nepal, a partner organization that Shared Hope helped establish and faithfully supports.

The tiny young mother, sick emotionally and physically, was gently carried to a bed for the rest and care she needed so badly.  In her fevered dreams she heard children shouting…and upon fully awakening, realized this was real…the place she thought was a home for cast-off women was full of children!  Horrified, Reshma realized she had not needed to give up her Angel and begged Asha Nepal’s founder to help get her back.  Through prayer and some artful negotiation, Angel was placed in the arms of her beaming mother who proceeded to keep her promise to Angel for a future. They spent over three years as part of the Asha Nepal family, and in 2016, gainfully employed, Reshma and Angel moved into their own small apartment in Kathmandu.

Your support made this story of restoration possible.  And it is your commitment to Shared Hope and women like Reshma which inspires us to keep fighting to end child sex trafficking.

 

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