In 2017, South Dakota passed a groundbreaking law to ensure survivors of sex trafficking, ages 16 and under, are protected from criminalization. This effort began two years ago when Becky Rassmussen, Executive Director of Call to Freedom, an awareness-raising and survivor-serving organization, recognized the important perspective she could bring to the legislative process. Seeking to […]
What I learned through my Shared Hope Fellowship
By Aliz Nagyvaradi I am grateful and humbled for the learning opportunity Shared Hope provided me this summer. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it has been truly impactful experience. Shared Hope has a 20-year history in the anti-trafficking field and its enduring presence makes it a leader in the field. As […]
Progress Without Protection: How State Laws Are Punishing Child Sex Trafficking Victims
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 […]
