Over the past 7 years of the Protected Innocence Challenge, states have made substantial progress – 47 states have raised their grade, and while the majority of states were failing in 2011, there are no longer any states with a failing grade and 30 states now have an “A” or “B” grade. By closing gaps […]
Shared Hope Statement Regarding FOSTA-SESTA and the Backpage Seizure
Today, with the President’s signing of H.R. 1865, the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, also known as FOSTA-SESTA, anti-trafficking advocates and survivors of sex trafficking and their families celebrate this long awaited progress in the effort to combat online sex trafficking. Today’s bill signing comes days after federal agencies seized […]
Websites set up accountability measures in wake of bill passage to curb online sex trafficking
l In many ways this is a continuation of a long fight against online facilitation of sex trafficking which goes back more than a decade. In 2007, Shared Hope International’s (SHI) Center for Justice & Advocacy, produced one of the first research reports documenting websites’ role in facilitating the crime of sex trafficking. After studying […]
Historic Anti-Sex Trafficking Bill Passes the Senate, Heads to the President’s Desk
WASHINGTON, D.C., Today the Senate passed H.R. 1865, the FOSTA-SESTA package, which provides access to justice for survivors of online sex trafficking and gives states critical tools for combatting this crime. This is a historic step by the US legislature to recognize the rights of victims by ensuring that websites who knowingly facilitate the sale […]
Honoring Representative Chris Smith: A Lifetime Pathbreaker
It would be difficult to name anyone more qualified to receive Shared Hope’s Lifetime Pathbreaker Award than U.S. Representative Chris Smith (NJ), a man with a long and consistent history of advocating for the vulnerable around the world. Serving since 1980, Congressman Smith was a lone voice breaking the silence on the topic of human […]
