Press Releases Archives - Page 2 of 11 - Shared Hope International

November 17, 2021 by Camryn Peterson

Just released – Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking (Press Release)

Shared Hope International Introduces Advanced Level State Report Cards

The majority of states + D.C. have “D” (10) or “F” (40) grades
FL receives highest grade, a “C”
Only 8 states fully protect trafficked children from arrest, detention, charging and prosecution for prostitution offenses

WASHINGTON, D.C., (November 17, 2021) — Shared Hope International, dedicated non-profit leader in the fight to eradicate domestic minor sex trafficking, today released year-one of a grading system that will be sure to get attention. Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking introduces advanced level analysis that builds upon the previous 10-year grading project, one that realized a 25.6% improvement nationwide in basic anti-trafficking legislation responding to domestic minor sex trafficking. Now, the advanced analysis provides a blueprint for action for motivated legislatures by identifying deficiencies in state child trafficking laws that remain in place. Published as a report card for each state, the 2021 Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking encourages redoubled effort to tackle the hardest elements of responses that will protect juvenile sex trafficking survivors and hold buyers and traffickers accountable.

Due to the high bar that has been set with this grading system, 39 states and the District of Columbia (DC) earned a failing grade in 2021, the launch year for the advanced analysis. In comparison, the first year of the basic level report cards ten years ago found 26 states with a grade of “F” but nine years later every state had improved significantly; there were no “F”s and only two “D”s. While this seems like a step back, this year’s low grades reflect a starting point for states to advance beyond the tremendous progress they made over the past 10 years. The new framework also responds to calls from stakeholders to raise the bar, especially in the area of victim protections where many states lagged behind. Notably, Florida, the only state to receive full credit for its victim protection laws under the Protected Innocence Challenge framework, is now the top scoring state under the Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking Advanced Legislative Framework.

Tennessee, which had previously held the #1 spot under the Protected Innocence Challenge Framework, remained in Tier 1, largely due to aggressive efforts in the 2021 session to enact laws that directly addressed the Advanced Legislative Framework. “Ten years ago, we couldn’t have imagined this new framework. We’ve listened to survivors, we’ve learned, and now we go forward with new knowledge to improve Tennessee’s response,” said Margie Quin, CEO of End Slavery Tennessee. “Through historic investments in law enforcement and public-private partnerships to serve survivors, Tennessee is at the forefront of this important fight,” said Gov. Bill Lee. “Human trafficking has no place in our state, and we are committed to building on our progress, improving laws, and protecting the most vulnerable among us.”

At the announcement of Report Card grades, Shared Hope will honor two individuals with the Pathbreaker Award for persistent and brave advocacy in ending the criminalization of child sex trafficking victims. Child and youth victims continue to be help criminally culpable for offenses committed while being trafficked, a practice which has led to incarceration of untold numbers of unidentified survivors of child sex trafficking. Ohio Senator Teresa Fedor has worked tirelessly to change the state law to focus criminality on the traffickers and the buyers of sex with children. Alexis Keerica Martin was trafficked at 15 and then convicted of murder and felonious assault in connection with the death of her trafficker. She now brings her lived experience to the effort to change the way systems respond to an offending victim. Her experience is a stark example of the impact legislation can have and stands as the best example of the reason Shared Hope does this work.

Senator Fedor also noted the important link between the release of the report cards, and the resulting work left to be done across the country, and the significance of the award given to her and Ms. Martin. “Like many other states, Ohio has also seen its grade drop this year because of Shared Hope’s new advanced legislative framework. This was despite the fact that last year I finally managed to extend Safe Harbor protections to 16- and 17-year-olds who have been trafficked. All Ohio children can now be rescued from the horrors of human trafficking without the fear being arrested,” said Fedor. “However, with Shared Hope’s Advanced Legislative Framework and survivors guiding my work, Ohio will raise its grade. This is urgent and will be my top priority. I have already begun to work on addressing our survivor-centered response by introducing ‘The Expanding Human Trafficking Justice Act’ (Senate Bill 183) to create a clear path to expungement for all trafficking survivors. I have spent the last 15 years fighting against human trafficking in all forms, and I am not about to give up now.”

State Action. National Change.

“At the time Shared Hope first issued report cards in 2011, 26 states did not make it a crime to buy sex with a child; today every state in the country considers sex trafficking of a minor a punishable crime,” said Linda Smith, founder and president of Shared Hope. “This is the reason we provide the sometimes uncomfortable motivation of a report card. Analyzing state laws for nearly a decade has enabled us to understand where progress is concentrated and where gaps remain. It is important to note that while the 2021 advanced legislative framework zeroes in on areas that states continue to leave unaddressed, it also provides analysis and recommendations for improvement. We trust that states will use these tools as a means to provide a better outcome for survivors of sex trafficking.”

Grades are based on an analysis of 40 legislative components that must be addressed in state laws to effectively respond to the crime of domestic minor sex trafficking.

While laudable progress has been made since 2011 with the passage of laws to criminalize selling and purchasing sex with a minor, child and youth victims often are denied access to justice and restorative services outside of the juvenile justice system. The advanced legislative framework brings heightened expectation to remedy state laws that fail to provide protective responses to victims of sex trafficking.

“We are asking states to respond to exploited youth as victims of a serious crime,” said Smith. “We recognize changing victim protection laws is a heavy lift and providing services presents resource challenges. Regardless, some states are taking the lead on this and we’re confident others will learn from their example.”

The 2021 Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking can be accessed here.

January 27, 2021 by Mark Porter

Omni Hotels & Resorts steps up to fight sex trafficking through multi-year partnership with Shared Hope International

Washington, DC – January 27, 2021 – Leveraging its leadership position in the hospitality industry nationwide, Omni Hotels & Resorts announces that it will host the nation’s premier conference on child and youth sex trafficking. In the coming three years, Omni will be the banner hotel and host for the highly regarded JuST Conference (Juvenile Sex Trafficking) that Shared Hope International has annually brought to the nation over much of the past decade.

Said Linda Smith, founder and president of Shared Hope, “Much of sex trafficking is conducted in, or facilitated through, the hospitality industry. This is where alert and trained employees can make a huge difference—literally, their awareness may actually save the life of a boy or a girl who is being targeted by a sex trafficker. Omni is an ideal partner due to the core values they hold as a corporation as well as the awareness and training programs they have already put in place.”

This exciting new relationship advances the fight against sex trafficking:

The partnership includes opportunities for Omni to participate in certain aspects of the conference which includes many survivors of sex trafficking along with disciplines such as law enforcement, healthcare, social work, policy and citizen advocates. By sponsoring elements of the conference including a networking reception, Omni will provide a unique opportunity for advocates to connect in a social setting outside structured workshops. As an authority with 25 years invested in addressing the issue of sex trafficking, Linda Smith will be available to speak at major Omni client events.

“Local market leadership is one of our core values, and we are committed to our partnership with Shared Hope International to ensure we’re supporting the communities in which we operate to end sex trafficking,” said Peter Strebel, president of Omni Hotels & Resorts. “Understanding that sex trafficking is very prevalent within the hospitality industry, we know we have to do our part in helping to educate our associates, who in turn, have the power to prevent these horrific acts.”

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ABOUT OMNI HOTELS AND RESORTS

Omni Hotels & Resorts creates genuine, authentic guest experiences at 60 distinct luxury hotels and resorts in leading business and leisure destinations across North America. With more than 25 iconic golf courses and 16 award-winning spas featured in dynamic locales nationwide, every Omni proudly opens its doors to share the true spirit of its destination. Reflected through local color, personalized service, unique wellness options, signature restaurants and creative culinary offerings, Omni leaves a lasting impression with every guest and a heightened level of recognition and rewards delivered through its Select Guest® loyalty program. As a founding member of the Global Hotel Alliance, Select Guest is further expanded through the DISCOVERY loyalty program offering members additional global benefits. Omni is committed to reducing hunger and is on a mission through its Say Goodnight to Hunger initiative to provide millions of meals each year for food banks to feed children, families and seniors in communities in which it operates. Through its partnership with Shared Hope International, Omni is dedicated to the education and training of its associates to help combat human trafficking.

Omni Hotels & Resorts is the official hotel of the PGA TOUR® and PGA TOUR Champions. For information or to book accommodations, visit omnihotels.com or call 1-800-The-Omni.

MEDIA CONTACT: Brittany Peck, Director of Training, brittany@sharedhope.org, 360-830-6095.

Learn more about the 2021 JuST Conference: https://www.justconference.org/just-conference-2021/

November 18, 2020 by Mark Porter

Shared Hope International launches Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking: State Action. National Change., an advanced legislative framework and blueprint for action.

Building on a decade of successful advocacy through the Protected Innocence Challenge, Shared Hope International’s Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking will advance the standards for grading states on delivering legal solutions that address this vulnerable population.

Washington, DC, Nov. 18, 2020 – Since 1998, Shared Hope has worked to inspire lawmaking that brings justice and ensures protective responses to victims. Beginning in 2011, the organization leveraged its position as a nationally recognized leader in the fight to end domestic minor sex trafficking through the Protected Innocence Challenge–report cards grading states on the fundamental fabric of laws that address child sex trafficking. Now, Report Cards on Child and Youth Sex Trafficking will motivate states to move beyond fundamentals and consider effective protection and services. This project, announced on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 serves as the blueprint for the next phase in Shared Hope’s campaign for State Action. National Change. and the catalyst for stronger state legislation to protect commercially sexually exploited youth.

“When Shared Hope first issued state grades in 2011, 26 states earned failing grades. Many did not have a child sex trafficking law or make it a crime to buy sex with a child; today, just a decade later, all states have a child sex trafficking law and a legal framework for holding buyers of sex with children accountable” said Linda Smith, founder and president of Shared Hope. “Analyzing state laws for a decade revealed where gaps remain. Report Cards on Child and Youth Sex Trafficking addresses those gaps by shifting focus to the inadequate protections being provided to these survivors.” This video showcases the look towards the future.

With states playing a critical role in eradicating child and youth sex trafficking, the original framework sought to lay the foundation for transformational policy, practice, and culture change by advocating for laws that protect victims and hold perpetrators accountable. Through grassroots mobilization, legislative advocacy, technical assistance, and consistent collaboration, this vision has largely become a reality. Critical gaps in state laws have been addressed, with thirty-five states, and D.C., earning an “A” or “B” grade in 2019.

Looking towards the next decade, with the support of stakeholders, Shared Hope International will build on the strong legal foundation laid over the last 10 years to push states further, with a more robust focus on policies that strengthen victim protections and prioritize true prevention. This includes addressing and funding specialized services for victims as well as focusing on gaps in demand enforcement.

Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking consists of 40 key points of law, grouped into six issue areas, that are needed under state law to provide a protective response to child and youth survivors of sex trafficking.

The six key issue areas are:

Criminal Provisions: Clear criminal laws, including those that criminalize buyers of sex with children, are needed to ensure all sex trafficking offenders can be held accountable.
Identification of and Response to Victims: State laws must identify all commercially sexually exploited children as victims of trafficking and provide for a protective, rather than punitive response.
Continuum of Care: To break the cycle of exploitation, state laws must provide victims access to funded, trauma-informed services.
Access to Justice for Trafficking Survivors: A range of civil and criminal justice remedies must be available for victims under the law.
Tools for a Victim-Centered Criminal Justice Response: Criminal justice procedures for the benefit and protection of victim-witnesses must be provided under the law.
Prevention and Training: To help prevent trafficking and promote just responses to child sex trafficking victims, training must be required by law for child welfare, juvenile justice, law enforcement, prosecutors and school personnel, and prevention education required for students.

“The past decade has led to new research and opportunities to listen to survivors, bringing ever-increasing clarity to laws and policies that must be in place to fully respond to child and youth sex trafficking,” said Smith. “At the core of this shift is stopping the victim-blaming that prevents children from being recognized as victims and accessing needed services. There is clearly much work to be done. Nineteen states still allow child victims to be charged with prostitution; in nineteen others the buyer can assert a defense that he didn’t know how old the child was; in nineteen more, buyers are not considered offenders under the child sex trafficking law. While we recognize changing laws to ensure greater protection for victims can be a heavy lift for states and providing services presents resource challenges, we’ve seen some states take the lead on this and we’re confident others will learn from their example.”

To stay up to date on this exciting project, sign up here to guarantee the Report Cards on Child and Youth Sex Trafficking will be delivered directly to you.

To support the implementation of this advanced framework, our Policy Team will remain available to provide rapid technical assistance to support legislators, advocates, and state agencies; technical assistance requests can be submitted here.

ABOUT SHARED HOPE INTERNATIONAL

Founded in 1998 by then U.S. Congresswoman Linda Smith, Shared Hope International strives to prevent the conditions that foster sex trafficking, promote restoration for survivors of sex trafficking, and bring justice to vulnerable women and children. A non-profit Christian organization, Shared Hope engages in diverse activities that confront sex trafficking in communities throughout America. Our efforts include training first responders and community members to identify warning signs of trafficking and employ intervention techniques to appropriately respond to child trafficking victims; providing restorative services to affected children and women; and offering legislative support to those focused on strengthening laws that fight child sex trafficking. Our vision is to coordinate a national U.S. network of protection to improve the response to victims of trafficking. We believe we can create a world where every survivor is surrounded by trained professionals, an alert community, just law and policy, knowledgeable service providers and appropriate shelter options.

MEDIA CONTACT: Mark Porter, Senior Director of Creative Strategies for Shared Hope International, mark@sharedhope.org, 202-963-2601 x408.

January 23, 2020 by SHI Staff

Shared Hope International Releases Sex Trafficking Victim-Offender Intersectionality Report, Promoting Just Responses to Victims in the Criminal Justice System

The collaboration with the Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation at Villanova Law follows a three-year study of the phenomenon of treating sex trafficking victims as criminals

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Shared Hope International, a non-profit leader in the fight to eradicate domestic minor sex trafficking, today announced the release of “Responding to Sex Trafficking Victim-Offender Intersectionality: A Guide for Criminal Justice Stakeholders”. A collaboration of Shared Hope’s JuST Response Council and the Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation (CSE Institute) at Villanova Law, the report will serve as a field guide for criminal justice stakeholders, supporting an overall shift toward a victim-centered approach that recognizes a survivor’s underlying victimization when facing sex trafficking charges.

Shared Hope unveiled the report during a presentation and panel discussion at its Institute for Justice & Advocacy, a Washington, D.C.-based education, research and training center, which opened today.

The report provides resources for anyone who interacts with a sex trafficking victim-offender within the criminal justice system, including law enforcement, judges, defense attorneys, probation officers and victim witness advocates. It seeks to mitigate the risk of injustice when the control exerted by sex traffickers and the influence of trauma on a victim’s decision-making and behavior are not considered.

“A sea change is still needed in how our world looks at, responds to and cares for sex trafficking victims,” said Linda Smith, Shared Hope’s founder and president, and a former U.S. Congresswoman. “This report is a long-overdue resource for understanding and addressing the circumstances that result in treating victims as criminals.”

The CSE Institute educates and provides technical assistance to those who respond to commercial sexual exploitation, promoting victim-centered, trauma-informed multidisciplinary collaboration.

“As a former prosecutor who now routinely educates prosecutors and engages in policy and legislative reforms, I consistently remind prosecutors that the most powerful tool they have is the one of discretion,” said Shea Rhodes, director and co-founder of the CSE Institute. “When making decisions about which cases to charge and bring to trial, it is critical that prosecutors investigate trafficking cases using victim-centered trauma-informed strategies to ensure that the outcomes are fair and just for all involved.”

For the last decade, Shared Hope has graded states on the strength of their child sex trafficking laws through its Protected Innocence Challenge. While the national average grade rose from an F to a B since the Challenge began, the grade for victim protection laws is barely a C at 71.2 percent.

“While we recognize the challenges that arise when trafficking victims are alleged to have engaged in trafficking conduct, approaches such as charging victims as co-conspirators, which effectively deny their underlying victimization and prevent access to comprehensive services, harm victims as well as the effort to bring their exploiters to justice,” said Christine Raino, Shared Hope’s senior director of public policy. “The progress made crafting new legislation that properly punishes sex traffickers is undermined when the laws are implemented in a way that is not victim-centered and trauma-informed.”

The field guidance focuses on three primary objectives:

To improve identification of sex trafficking victim-offenders who have come into contact with the criminal justice system
To enhance understanding of victim-offenders’ conduct through a sex trafficking- and trauma-informed lens
To identify alternative responses to victim-offenders that take into account the impact of their own victimization on their potential involvement in sex trafficking conduct

Shared Hope’s JuST Response Council comprises policy advocates, government officials, medical professionals, law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, academics and service providers. Several members are survivor leaders. Members share the goals of preventing juveniles from becoming sex trafficking victims and ensuring that youth who have been trafficked have access to the tools and support necessary to heal from the trauma they have endured and the skills to create and sustain a life away from trafficking.

To read the “Responding to Sex Trafficking Victim-Offender Intersectionality: A Guide for Criminal Justice Stakeholders” report, visit https://sharedhope.org/what-we-do/bring-justice/just-response-council/

ABOUT SHARED HOPE INTERNATIONAL
Founded in 1998 by then U.S. Congresswoman Linda Smith, Shared Hope International strives to prevent the conditions that foster sex trafficking, restore victims of sex slavery, and bring justice to vulnerable women and children. A non-profit Christian organization, Shared Hope engages in diverse activities that confront sex trafficking in communities throughout America. Our efforts include training first responders and community members to identify warning signs of trafficking and employ intervention techniques to rescue child trafficking victims; providing restorative services to affected children and women; and offering legislative support to those focused on strengthening laws that fight child sex trafficking. Our vision is to coordinate a national U.S. network of protection to improve the response to victims of trafficking. We believe we can create a world where every survivor is surrounded by trained professionals, an alert community, just law and policy, knowledgeable service providers and appropriate shelter options.

MEDIA CONTACT: Rosemary Ostmann, RoseComm for Shared Hope International, rostmann@rosecomm.com, 201-615-7751.

January 23, 2020 by SHI Staff

Shared Hope International Launches Institute for Justice & Advocacy in Washington, D.C.

New center is a home for education, research and training of advocates and stakeholders in the fight to end sex trafficking and eliminate bias against victims

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Shared Hope International, a non-profit leader in the fight to eradicate domestic minor sex trafficking, today announced the opening of the Shared Hope Institute for Justice & Advocacy in Washington, D.C. Located just blocks from the White House, the Institute concentrates the power of Shared Hope’s collective resources under one roof and amplifies the voice of sex trafficking survivors from across the country. It offers education, research and training for advocates and stakeholders – including law enforcement, social workers, lawyers, first responders, doctors, legislators and judges – working to eliminate bias against victims in the ways laws are both written and applied.

Founded in 1998 by then-U.S. Congresswoman Linda Smith, Shared Hope has a two-decade history working to prevent domestic minor sex trafficking, supporting restoration for trafficking victims and bringing justice to the vulnerable people it impacts. The organization also ensures the buyers who create the demand for commercial sex with a child are brought to justice. In 2011, Shared Hope introduced the Protected Innocence Challenge, an annual state-by-state report card that identifies gaps in laws and provides a blueprint for legislative action.

“Opening the doors of the Institute for Justice & Advocacy marks a seminal event in our nation’s battle against sexual exploitation of minors,” said Smith, Shared Hope’s president and a member of the President’s Public-Private Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking. “In this space, advocates from across the country will come together to dig deeper, tackling current and emerging challenges and influencing federal legislation to better protect vulnerable women and children.”

The Institute for Justice & Advocacy became a reality after Shared Hope raised $3 million in five months to purchase the entire second floor of 1016 16th Street NW. It provides an on-the-ground presence and close proximity to the nation’s seat of power, giving Shared Hope a platform to influence the government and reach the entire nation.

American girls and boys are sold and bought for sex by men in the U.S. every day. It’s a heinous crime and an epidemic that exploits countless victims each year.

Shared Hope believes trafficked young girls and boys are victims who need to be protected, not treated as criminals or delinquent youth. The bias in our laws allows 20 states to label a child victim of trafficking as a prostitute and lets a buyer walk without legal consequence while their victim is charged with a crime.

“The word ‘justice’ in the Institute’s name is critical, as both buyers and sellers continue to escape justice and survivors are denied justice,” said Smith. “This fight starts with bridging the knowledge gap. If you care about protecting vulnerable children in communities across the country, we urge you to educate yourself and other people in your life.”

Today, Shared Hope International’s JuST Response Council will also release the report, “Responding to Sex Trafficking Victim-Offender Intersectionality: A Guide for Criminal Justice Stakeholders” in partnership with the Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation at Villanova Law. The report explores the phenomenon of victims facing criminal consequences for offenses that result from their trafficking, and provides tools criminal justice stakeholders can use to deal with cases in a just and trauma-informed manner.

To learn more about the Shared Hope Institute for Justice & Advocacy, visit https://sharedhopesstg.wpenginepowered.com/what-we-do/bring-justice/

MEDIA CONTACT: Rosemary Ostmann, RoseComm for Shared Hope International, rostmann@rosecomm.com, 201-615-7751.