Ten states raise their grade in 2019 through bipartisan, grassroots legislative advocacy The majority of states + D.C. have “A” (15) or “B” (21) grades; Maine, South Dakota are only states with “D” Tennessee receives highest grade, while Nevada sees most improvement Remaining gaps include non-criminalization of children as prostitutes and access to support services […]
Survivors of Child Sex Trafficking are Never the Aggressor
Joint Statement by Shared Hope International and Center for Combating Human Trafficking on Sentencing by Kansas Judge Michael Gibbens Under Federal and Kansas state law, persons who purchase sex from minors commit child sex trafficking; in fact, Kansas law specifically criminalizes such conduct as “Aggravated Human Trafficking.” Therefore, by definition, minors […]
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 […]
Critical Human Trafficking Legislation Passes the House
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) Today the House of Representatives passed HR 2200 the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017 (TVPRA). This important legislation was sponsored by Representative Chris Smith—author of the original Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000 and the 2016 recipient of Shared Hope’s Lifetime Pathbreaker Award—along with lead co-sponsor Karen […]
Pathbreaker Awardee Leads Human Rights Efforts
In his unabated championship for marginalized people, Representative Chris Smith last week led a human rights effort to highlight human trafficking at the 2017 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly in Minsk, underscoring why Shared Hope International awarded him our Lifetime Pathbreaker Award in 2016. Congressman Smith is only the 2nd individual to earn […]
