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November 22, 2013 by Guest

Shared Hope Director, Nancy Winston, Receives Maryland Governor’s Service Award

By Melanie Mah

Twenty-seven Maryland residents were selected as recipients of the 30^th Annual Governor’s Service Award, honored on November 4, 2013.

Nancy Winston, Senior Director at Share Hope International, was honored with the Governor’s Service Award as a Special Honoree. This prestigious award is given to individuals who display an outstanding record of volunteerism and service.

Nancy has served as an integral part of Shared Hope since its inception. In the early days of Shared Hope, Nancy hosted President and Founder Linda Smith during her travel to Washington, D.C. and served as a local volunteer. As Shared Hope grew, so did Nancy’s position within Shared Hope and she was elected to sit on the Shared Hope International Board of Directors, a position she held for six years. During this time, Nancy assisted in organizing the War Against Trafficking Alliance in 2002. She participated in the Path Breaking Strategies Conference in Washington, DC in 2003 and in the Next Steps Conference in Mumbai in 2004, as well as the Justice Department Domestic Trafficking and Prostitution conference in Tampa in 2004 and the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children Mid Term Review in D.C. in 2006. She represented Shared Hope at the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, she left her career in healthcare information technology at Cerner Corporation to begin a second career with Shared Hope International.

Today, Nancy is a Senior Director whose diverse responsibilities include speaking, writing, training, donor relations, restorative shelter initiatives, and partner relationships.

Since 2008, she has served on the Maryland Human Trafficking Task Force where she currently chairs the Legislative Committee is an active member the Victim Services committee. As a task force member and a Shared Hope employee, she provides expert testimony at committee hearings in the Maryland legislature in support of legislation that would toughen the state’s anti-trafficking laws.

Congratulations Nancy!

August 29, 2013 by SHI Staff

School’s In Session (Part 2 of Keeping Watch Over Schools)

Kids are heading back to school and jumping into another year of learning. Let’s make sure that they are learning about how to stay safe within the school system as well.

This second post of a two part blog presents ideas for how you can prepare yourself, students, and their schools to fight sex trafficking.

Yellow buses are populating the streets again as children and teens are starting a new school year. Let’s make sure that they, their schools, and you are all armed and ready to defend against sex trafficking. Below are three action steps that lead to a lesson plan for prevention, rescue, and restoration.

Educate yourself: You are already on the right track here. You are reading this blog. Chances are you have explored Shared Hope’s website to learn more about sex trafficking in the United States and around the world. If you have not, then we encourage you to do so. There are plenty of resources to answer your questions on sex trafficking. Shared Hope also has a YouTube channel and a Vimeo channel that feature news clips, our DEMAND. Documentary, and much more. Shared Hope would also like to invite you to attend Sharing the Hope. This event will feature three riveting days of education and celebration. There you will learn from the nation’s top leaders on how you can take action to fight sex trafficking and save one life at a time.

Educate students: The previous blog urged you to talk to children and teens. You can find tips on how to talk to them about sexual abuse here. And, as was suggested before, you can use Chosen to open the door to discussions on sex trafficking. Young people will be impacted by the stories told in the documentary by two teenage girls who escaped the snares of commercial sexual exploitation. When you order Chosen, guides, discussion questions, and action ideas are included in your purchase. You can use these tools to organize a viewing in your church, community center, or even at your local middle school or high school. For those kids that are not yet pre-teens, be sure to broach the subject in an age appropriate manner. And do not forget to talk about solutions! If all we talk about is the darkness, then it can leave young people afraid and overwhelmed. Give them hope.

Educate teachers: The first line of defense against trafficking and sexual abuse is so often the educators, school staff, and volunteers that interact with children on nearly a daily basis. If your local district does not have a program in place that teaches these individuals how to spot and respond to signs of sex trafficking, then push for one. The Department of Education has recognized the need for school employees to be aware of this issue. They created this fact sheet to provide an overview of what trafficking is, how to identify potential victims, and what to do.

It takes an entire community to tackle this issue, to protect our children and teens from traffickers. We all need to work together to continue to save these precious lives.

August 27, 2013 by SHI Staff

Keeping Watch Over Schools

Kids are heading back to school and jumping into another year of learning. Let’s make sure that they are learning about how to stay safe within the school system as well. This first of a two part blog discusses the connection between sexual abuse and sex trafficking.

It is difficult to imagine someone with whom children are trusted everyday could possibly abuse that trust. Unfortunately, it does happen. In our school systems there are those that use their position to get close to children in order to sexually abuse them. In some cases, this goes beyond sexual abuse and into trafficking.

We see more cases of a school employee sexually abusing a child than we see of a school employee trafficking one. However, a childhood history of sexual abuse leaves a minor more vulnerable to sex trafficking, which multiple studies have confirmed. “For example, a study of 106 adult women in Boston who were incarcerated for prostitution-related offenses or had ever been arrested for prostitution-related offenses found that 68 percent of the women reported having been sexually abused before the age of 10 and almost half reported being raped before the age of 10 (Norton-Hawk, 2002)” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Human Trafficking Into and Within the United States: A Review of the Literature, 2009).

Some school employees have also had a hand in trafficking minors. For example, in June of this year a New York trafficking survivor came forward and shared her story. Brianna was nine years old when her school janitor kidnapped her, raped her, and then sold her to a pimp. Eventually she escaped, only to fall into the hands of another pimp. She was arrested at 13 for prostitution and made to testify against her pimp. ““This man who owned me as a slave, who sold me to child rapists, who profited off of my body deserves to be punished more harshly,” Brianna said. There was also a California case this year in which a Moreno Valley school board member attempted to recruit two underage girls to become a part of the prostitution ring he ran out of his home. During the course of his trial it was revealed that in addition to the three women he was already prostituting, he attempted to draw in two minors.

So what can you do in this situation? Talk to children and teens! You can use Chosen as a tool to open the door to conversation and to make them aware of the dangers of sex trafficking. Shared Hope created this documentary, which tells the story of two teenage girls who were tricked into trafficking.

Teach students about appropriate and inappropriate interaction with school employees. Show them that you are open to listening to them if they feel unsafe around or have been abused by someone in the school system. People generally believe that school employees are often falsely accused of sexual abuse. “In a 1991 review of false or mistaken accusations of sexual abuse, Yates concludes that the majority of false accusations occur in custody cases and that in other circumstances, the incidence of false accusations appears rare” (U.S. Department of Education, Educator Sexual Misconduct: A Synthesis of Existing Literature, 2004). Victims of sexual abuse need to know that they will be heard because so often an abuser will tell them that no one would believe them if they say anything. We have to remain vigilant to ensure that they understand that they will be protected and defended.

In the next blog, you will learn more about the steps you can take to protect children and teens in schools.

August 23, 2013 by Guest

It Happens to Boys, Too

Special guest blog post by Anna Smith, Executive Director & Co-Founder of Restore One. Commercial sexual exploitation “happens to boys, too.”

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.”– William Wilberforce

The words of William Wilberforce serve as a stark reminder that with knowledge not only comes power but responsibility.

In Spring 2013, ECPAT-USA’s groundbreaking study And Boys Too created a buzz in the sex trafficking movement and forced us to expand not only our knowledge of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and sex trafficking but it increased our responsibility to act on behalf of boys too.

Experts estimate that annually between 100,000-300,000 American youth are victims of some type of commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) within the United States. Without any education, most Americans assume sex trafficking and CSE happens only to women and girls. The majority view men as perpetrators and seldom consider them as victims. However the 2008 study, The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in New York City, suggests that as many as 50% of commercial sexually exploited American youth are young males.

While the victimization of each gender requires an equal grade of attention, the sex trafficking movement has largely overlooked the fact that it happens to boys too.

Such knowledge shaped the work I do at Restore One and the population we plan to serve through our long-term aftercare program, The Anchor House. Opening in 2014, The Anchor House is staged to be the first in the United States to provide long-term residential care specifically to domestic minor sex trafficked and CSE boys. The issues facing DMST and CSE boys, while similar to girls, are firmly unique. Some of the trends unique to DMST and CSE boys we’ve observed both through study and through relational interaction with male survivors include:

The common age of first exposure to the sex trade is younger; studies suggest that a boys average age of entry is 11-13 years old.
The game is different; boys are not always ‘pimped out.’ There is often a market facilitator involved in the recruitment and brokering of boys to buyers.
Boys express greater amounts of humiliation and shame when associating themselves as victims of sexual exploitation, thus decreasing solicitation of services.
Boys have an increased bewilderment toward sexual orientation and gender identity.
Studies suggest that the bulk of boys identify as heterosexual. Yet gay, bi-sexual, transsexual and questioning (GBTQ) youth represent a significant portion of sexual exploited youth. Along with boys, GBTQ populations must be addressed.
Boys in the sex trade are at an increased risk for physical abuse, sexual transmitted infections and HIV.

Also worth noting, boys exiting the sex trade report complications such as: depression, anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), suicidal thoughts, poor self image, sexual identity issues, sexual transmitted infections, HIV, lack of family support, drug dependency and obstacles with physical injuries.

At Sharing the Hope, I look forward to expanding upon not only these unique trends but discussing the framework application of The Anchor House program.

To hear more on this topic, join Anna Smith and over 25 national experts at Sharing the Hope, November 7-9 in Washington D.C. Early bird registration closes October 1. Book now!

Anna Smith is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Restore One. Anna works diligently on Restore One’s chief project, The Anchor House. The Anchor House will be the first shelter in the nation designed to meet the psychological, physical and sociological needs of sex trafficked and sexually exploited American boys. Aside from Anna’s work with the Anchor House, she oversees Restore One’s prevention program, Project So Loved, and serves as Chair of the Pitt County Rapid Response Team. Anna has dual a degree in Social Work and Religious Studies and is currently pursuing her Masters in Clinical Counseling. Anna is a strong advocate for sex trafficked and sexual exploited males. Anna has a resilient passion to see child sex trafficking victims experience true healing and restoration.

August 20, 2013 by SHI Staff

“You just don’t get it!”: Understand the teenage brain and its vulnerability

The average age of entry into commercial sexual exploitation is 13 years old. At this age, the brain has started an important stage of development during which a teenager is gaining vital decision-making skills. A trafficker understands that the teenager is going through pivotal changes and manipulates them during this tender point. They capture them young and create bonds that solidify as this brain development continues.

A teenager can sometimes seem like an alien who has taken over the body of a previously delightful child. At this age, they seriously begin questioning why they shouldn’t jump off the proverbial bridge if everyone else is. Adults wonder, ‘What is wrong with them?’ Well…nothing is wrong. Teenage years are a key time in brain development. Unfortunately, this makes teenagers prime targets for traffickers. The average age that children are first exploited in sex trafficking is 13.

As soon as puberty hits, the brain begins a massive undertaking that lasts until about the age of 25. This amazing process is integral in developing humans with more sophisticated reasoning and decision-making. Here are the highlights:

1. The brain begins to prune away synapses, which help signals pass throughout the brain. Those that have never been used are removed, effectively “de-cluttering” the brain and allowing for faster thinking.

2. The connection between the frontal lobe and the hippocampus strengthens. The frontal lobe is responsible for decision-making. The hippocampus plays a role in processing experiences and storing them as memories. It is particularly stimulated by new experiences. When these two parts combine, the brain is able to better use experience to inform decisions. However, during adolescence the hippocampus highly craves new experiences. This leads teenagers to take more risks than they would have before.

3. The connection between the right and left sides of the brain strengthens. This allows for more complex thinking processes. A teen is learning to weigh several factors at once.

(David Dobbs, “Beautiful Brains,” http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/10/teenage-brains/dobbs-text; Richard Know, “The Teenage Brain: It’s Just Not Grown Up Yet,” http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124119468; Sarah Jayne Blackmore, “The Mysterious Workings of the Adolescent Brain,” http://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_jayne_blakemore_the_mysterious_workings_of_the_adolescent_brain.html)

With all of these changes, teens are vulnerable to traffickers who have mastered manipulation. The trafficker perceives that teenagers feel misunderstood and knows that a teenager will be drawn to someone who shows sympathy. In order to appeal to their increased attraction to novelty and risk, the trafficker provides an environment different from what they have experienced to date. The trafficker also understands that an adolescent craves acceptance from those outside of the home. This is the brain preparing the adolescent to leave the nest one day. Anna was 12 when a trafficker slowly and sweetly inserted himself into her trust. She felt misunderstood and was afraid that her adoptive Christian family would give her back like so many foster parents had in the past. He listened to her fears, becoming her best and only friend. After a fight with her mother, Anna ran away with her friend…who then trafficked her. Anna was only 13 years old and her pimp became her world.

Because they only are beginning to use their brains’ connection between experience and decision making, teens are ripe for a trafficker’s twisted influence. Every teen is vulnerable. So, how do you protect these young people? Keep watch. If you see signs that a girl is at risk of being trafficked, ask questions. Teach them about the dangers they face by showing them Chosen, a resource Shared Hope created to make the conversation easier. This documentary tells the story of two teenage girls who were tricked into trafficking.

Don’t forget to also patiently show love, support, and guidance. And make an effort to foster a teen’s increased attraction to risk. Granting them new experiences in a productive, safe, and healthy environment is invaluable to their brain development and it ensures that they are protected during the process.

If you need help or guidance, or want to report a suspected case of human trafficking, call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Tipline 1-800-THE-LOST.

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