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November 20, 2018 by Susanna Bean

How to Tweet Your Legislator

On November 16 we released the 2018 Protected Innocence Challenge State Grades. This year, with our new tools, you can be a grassroots hero by sharing your state grade with your legislator! Click the Take Action button to visit our new Advocacy Action Center to tweet your legislator.

If you don’t have a Twitter account, you also have the opportunity to share the campaign on Facebook to encourage your friends with twitter to tweet their legislator.

We’ve made a quick clip to show you how quick and easy it is to take action!

Here are the steps:

Visit the Advocacy Action Center and select your state’s grade.
Fill in your name, address and information.
Send out the pre-written tweet that will automatically go out to your state legislators. (Note: you will have to authorize our system to post to your twitter the very first time you do this).

Thank you to all of you who have already taken action! It’s makes a difference when legislators hear directly from those who elected them. Thank you for being activists and using your voice!

November 14, 2018 by Susanna Bean

Bipartisan Grassroots Advocacy Drives Change to End Child Sex Trafficking

PRESS RELEASE

On the heels of a divisive mid-term election, a new report released today by Shared Hope International reveals an encouraging bi-partisan trend: individuals are coming together to fight child sex trafficking. Shared Hope’s annual Protected Innocence Challenge State Grades analyzes state laws to protect juvenile sex trafficking survivors and hold buyers and traffickers accountable. Through 8 years of empowering grassroots action, Shared Hope is leading a movement and has changed the map from 26 states with F grades in 2011, to 35 states with A and B grades in 2018. Across the nation, Shared Hope’s advocacy tools provide a bridge for anyone to reach out to their elected officials and effect change.

Nonprofit Partnership in South Dakota Leads to Groundbreaking Law

In 2017, South Dakota passed a groundbreaking law to ensure survivors of sex trafficking, ages 15 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 address South Dakota’s D grade, Becky reached out to Shared Hope for technical assistance, and together with local partners, three critical pieces of legislation were passed strengthening the state’s response to child sex trafficking.

“Shared Hope is a valuable asset to what we are doing here in South Dakota,” said Becky Rassmuseen. “We are extremely grateful for their ability to create awareness and help us in our research of what other States have done successfully and how we can make our legislation more effective.”

State Grades Empower Lawyer and Law Enforcement Officer to Change Tennessee Law

Towards the east in Tennessee, another passionate individual became aware of the scourge of child sex trafficking in his state and committed to fight it through the rule of law. Ryan Dalton, a Tennessee attorney, who was already working to combat humanitarian violations in Sudan as a law student, learned about Shared Hope’s state report cards from a friend. Having seen firsthand through his advocacy work how state laws could both help and harm survivors, he started studying how to address the gaps in Tennessee’s laws. Ryan’s desire to improve Tennessee’s laws eventually led him to connect with Margie Quin, who at the time was Special Agent in Charge at the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI). Leaning on Shared Hope’s analysis of Tennessee’s laws, Ryan, Margie, and a coalition of lawmakers and advocates succeeded in strengthening Tennessee’s laws over the next 8 years.

“Tennessee benefited from a bi-partisan activist General Assembly and a combination of state and nonprofit leaders to craft a comprehensive strategy,” said Margie Quinn. “Shared Hope’s Protected Innocence Challenge framework provided the roadmap, all we had to do is find the will to effect change.”

Today Tennessee has an A grade and the highest score in the nation. But that hasn’t stopped these committed Tennesseans from working to improve their state’s laws.

“When Margie and I first began to advance new laws to fight human trafficking, Tennessee was a safe place for traffickers and buyers, yet a dangerous place for victims,” remembered Ryan Dalton. “Today, thanks to a hard-working coalition of devoted advocates and Shared Hope’s Protected Innocence Challenge, our state is a dangerous place for traffickers and buyers, and a safe place for victims. Though we have come far, our effort to build a slave-free Tennessee remains unrelenting.”

New Jersey Community Activist Reaches out to Lawmaker

Back in 2012, Karen Fenkhart, active community member and New Jersey resident, was holding a presentation on preventing sex trafficking. She reached out to her local Assemblyman Ron Dancer to attend. While he was not able to make it, he was curious to learn more. Karen, a volunteer with Shared Hope, contacted the policy team and connected them to Dancer. That connection lead to a multi-year effort by Asm. Dancer sponsoring and co-sponsoring critical pieces of legislation related to child sex trafficking. Because of Karen’s outreach to her elected official, Asm. Danser remains a steadfast champion for juvenile sex trafficking survivors.

In a divided time, Becky, Karen, Ryan and Margie are heroes of grassroots activism, and the tools of the Protected Innocence Challenge State Grades lay the framework for all people to work together and spark change in their state.

“2019 is our opportunity to send a message that we as a nation stand together with survivors of child sex trafficking,” encouraged Linda Smith, Shared Hope International Founder and President. “There’s still work to do, and while many issues are dividing us, this problem is bringing both sides of the aisle together. We must continue to take action in every state and work together to protect children.”

Shared Hope International’s advocacy tools, from tweeting your legislator to in-depth legal analysis, empower individuals from all backgrounds to join the anti-trafficking movement and fight to end child sex trafficking.

The official release presentation of this year’s grades will take place at the National Foundation of Women Legislators Annual Conference via Facebook Livestream on Friday, November 16 at 12:45 ET.

November 14, 2018 by Sarah Bendtsen

Nonprofit Partnership in South Dakota Leads to Groundbreaking Law

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 address South Dakota’s D grade, Becky reached out to Shared Hope for technical assistance, and together with local partners, three critical pieces of legislation were passed strengthening the state’s response to child sex trafficking.

Read our interview of Becky Rassmussen, one of our grassroots heroes! You can become a grassroots hero by taking action to tweet your state’s grade to your elected official. Take action here!

Can you provide a brief background on your role as an anti-sex trafficking advocate?

As Executive Director of Call to Freedom of South Dakota, I have had the privilege of working with some of the most amazing people that are dedicated to helping survivors of Human Sex Trafficking. We strive to cultivate relationships and link arms with others who are dedicated to helping create a cohesive community model of care and support for victims, bringing communities together while educating and legislating to stop human trafficking.

…and what sparked the genesis of Call to Freedom?

Call to Freedom was birthed out of love and deep concern to affect real change starting here at home. Like many of us, I have encountered countless individuals who needed a lot of support if they were going to be successful in transitioning out of this nightmare.

Navigating a healthy path for victims of human trafficking is not just a clever motto on our website, but has become our creed. We take it to heart every single day, knowing this atrocity is very real and happening in our own backyard. We take comfort and remain motivated in knowing we really can do something about it, if we all work together.

As an advocate, I am inspired everyday by working directly with those who have been victimized and with all the individuals who authentically love and serve those in need. I become an advocate because of the inspiring unsung heroes who showed me the overwhelming need to help and empower survivors so they could know and believe they have a voice, a choice and that they really do matter.

What drove you to seek change in this area?

For me, it really hit home at the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in SD, with over a half a million people in attendance over a period of 10 days. I was shocked how many gaps in services there were within the United States for those who were coming out of human trafficking. 3,287 individuals are pulled into human trafficking on a daily basis and there were less than 300 beds designated for women trapped in human trafficking and only a handful for boys at the time. Trafficking victims were falling through the cracks and they weren’t getting the help and support they needed to be successful in transitioning out.

What approach have you taken? On a grassroots level, how have you mobilized fellow stakeholders to develop an agenda that seeks improvements in both policy and practice?

We first focused our efforts on the local level, working with law enforcement, creating open dialogue and building relationship so we could all ask the right and difficult questions. We had to find healthier ways to work together that would accomplish each of our individual missions and at the same time help avoid re-victimizing those in transition in the process.

What does grassroots collaboration look like for you?

Unfortunately, we soon discovered there were lots of different legislation gaps – in services, responses, screening questions, etc. that had not yet been implemented in the State of South Dakota.

Our response was to begin holding weekly luncheons and talk to people about what we were experiencing, first hand, here in South Dakota. We began to ask for input, feedback and ideas, empowering them to stand in the gap with us and become part of the solution.

Over time we earned the trust of most of our community leaders both locally and across the state. We were consistent in education and opportunities that helped build up the community and empowered everyone who wanted to know how to become proactive.

It wasn’t long before more and more community leaders and legislators began responding to the call. Soon individuals like State Representative Tom Holmes and Senator Jack Kolbeck were willing to carry three important pieces of legislation that unanimously went through the House and Senate, and have since been successfully integrated into South Dakota law and are now making a real difference.

Since then, many have stepped up to fill in the void. Legislators have supported our efforts. Law Enforcement, US Attorney’s office, and all those who are involved in prosecuting and supporting victims, have tirelessly worked together for the greater good. It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we don’t care who gets the credit.

We all continue to work together to create and refine laws that protect survivors and will ultimately send a clear message to the traffickers and Johns… “Stay out of South Dakota or suffer the consequences.”

How have the Shared Hope Protected Innocence Challenge tools (report cards and related materials) influenced or empowered your efforts?

Shared Hope is a valuable asset to what we are doing here in South Dakota. We are extremely grateful for their ability to create awareness and help us in our research of what other States have done successfully and how we can make our legislation more effective. They have been an invaluable partner, helping us to get the most out of our collaboration with our States’ Attorney and Attorney General’s office and helping us find the right words for our legislation in South Dakota.

What, in your mind, are the most notable legal and practical achievements that are a result of your advocacy and collaborative efforts?

We are now in the process of developing and strengthening a task force, which brings everyone to the table for the first time with a single focus; to work together and end human trafficking in South Dakota.

The support now from law enforcement on a state and federal level and many other service providers is so encouraging. I am overwhelmed with gratitude and filled with hope to see how many communities have responded. Everyone is eager to learn all they can about human trafficking so we can best incorporate protocols, procedures and responses within our own communities.

We have successfully worked together to change and strengthen legislation in South Dakota, create public awareness, effectively support and protect survivors, change the public view about victims and their unimaginable plight and successfully help survivors find the support they need to start over.

We continue to learn everyday how we can best work together in this process, promoting collaboration and unity so we might become a braided cord and effective advocates. If we stand together, each of us doing what we can, we will accomplish our mission and erase human trafficking… one community at a time.

November 1, 2018 by Brittany Peck

JuST 2018 Highlights

Around 1,080 professionals, advocates and leaders in the anti-trafficking field joined us this year at the 2018 JuST Conference, October 16-18 in San Diego, CA.

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan gave us a warm welcome to San Diego, sharing opening remarks before the keynote.

We networked, collaborated and learned with:

28 Exhibitor/Vendor Organizations,
137 presenters and;
over 70 survivor leaders and thrivers.
There was representation from over 40 states, D.C., Canada and France with first place going to California (268), 2^nd place from Texas (105) and third place to Arizona (96). These numbers reflect final attendance.

Every year at the JuST conference we address our collective belief that juvenile sex trafficking is one of the greatest injustices in the United States and this year, our plenary presenters helped us answer the question, “what does justice look like for the issue of juvenile sex trafficking?” Our keynote presenter, Leslie Briner, inspired us with her discussion on how justice must be rooted in compassion. Dr. Tanisha Knighton and Nathan Earl addressed how we cannot achieve universal justice without seeing those who are marginalized by the systems in place. And, our closing panel discussed the importance of survivors access to justice through financial recovery.

This theme resonated with attendees as they attended our 75 workshops hosted by our presenters from all over the country.

From left to right, 2018 Pathbreakers District Attorney Summer Stephan, The Honorable Robert Lung and Linda Smith accepting on behalf of Vernon Smith.

In addition to educational content, attendees were present for Shared Hope International’s award ceremony that took place on Wednesday. This year’s Pathbreakers were District Attorney Summer Stephan, The Honorable Robert Lung and in memoriam, Vernon Smith.

Attendees also joined Shared Hope International in celebrating its 20^thAnniversary at the birthday themed Networking Reception which took place on Tuesday at the event. Hosted outside at the Town & Country Resort with a DJ and karaoke, attendees enjoyed BBQ and celebrated under the San Diego sunset.

This year Shared Hope also announced it’s 2019 location, the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, OH!

The Shared Hope team, can second some of our attendee’s excitement for next year. We can’t wait to join our national audience again to share ideas in our fight to end juvenile sex trafficking!

This was an amazing conference! I took away something from every single session I attended. Topics were relevant and presenters were well informed. I will definitely make plans to attend next year.
Becky, TN

I am looking forward to next year. Best conference ever! Carrie, LA

October 11, 2018 by Susanna Bean

Pathbreaker Awards 2018

Shared Hope International is pleased to announce this year’s Pathbreaker Award Recipients, District Attorney Summer Stephan, The Honorable Robert Lung, and in memoriam, Shared Hope Co-Founder Vernon Smith.

Plan to join us on facebook live at 1:15 PT on Wednesday, October 17 to watch the presentation of the awards live from San Diego at the 2018 JuST Conference!

About the Award

In 2000, the U.S. Department of State enlisted Shared Hope International to host Pathbreaking Strategies conferences in six countries to energize the conversation about trafficking and share innovative approaches to combat the problem. During this process, we created the Pathbreaker Award to recognize the pioneering efforts of those who broke the trend of inaction and initiated proactive responses to prevent sex trafficking.

This year, Shared Hope International is proud to honor these individuals who have developed innovative strategies to combat demand, expose trafficking, and seek justice.expose trafficking, and seek justice.

Summer Stephan – San Diego County District Attorney

District Attorney Summer Stephan has devoted her life to protecting children and families and providing justice to the voiceless and most vulnerable. She is a national leader in the fight against sexual exploitation and human trafficking, who has served as a Deputy District Attorney in San Diego County for 28 years. During this time, she combined extensive courtroom experience with over 15 years of management and leadership experience. She rose through the ranks to appointments as Chief of the DA’s North County Branch and Chief of the Sex Crimes and Human Trafficking Division, a Special Victims Unit she pioneered.

In 2018, the voters elected Summer as District Attorney in the most resounding victory recorded for DA races in San Diego County. She holds leadership positions in public safety on the national, state and local level and was selected to serve on the Governor’s Task Force for High-Risk Sex Offenders and Sexually- Violent Predators. Among her many leadership positions in the fight against human trafficking, Summer chaired the San Diego County Human Trafficking Advisory Council and serves as Chair of the Human Trafficking subcommittee for the National District Attorneys Association-Women Prosecutors Section. Her numerous local, state and federal awards include an FBI commendation for organized crime prosecution and the 2016 “Voices for Justice” award by the Interfaith Center for Worker Justice. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Davis and her Juris Doctor from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.

The Honorable Robert R. Lung – Colorado’s Eighteenth Judicial District

As a judge, Robert Lung presides over a docket focused on kids experiencing trauma, neglect, abuse, and family issues. In addition to presiding over this diversified docket in Colorado, Judge Lung provides presentations nationally and internationally on issues such as human tracking, childhood trauma, and resiliency. Judge Lung was recently appointed by the Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice to serve as the Judicial Representative on the Colorado Human Trafficking Council. In 2016, he was selected to serve as a consultant to the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), and as consultant to the National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center (NHTTAC) of the recently created Office of Trafficking in Persons (OTIP) of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). In 2017, Judge Lung was selected to serve as a member of the National Advisory Committee on the Sex Trafficking of Children and Youth in the United States, which will advise the U.S. Attorney General and the Secretary of DHHS on trafficking. Most recently, in 2018, Judge Lung was appointed by the President to the nine-member U.S. Advisory Council on Human Trafficking tasked to advise the President’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (PITF). He received a triple major B.A. from Regis University and his J.D. from the University of Dayton. He is a survivor of juvenile sex trafficking and is currently working on his first book, a biography of trafficking, trauma, resiliency, faith and above all else, hope.

Vernon Smith – Co-Founder, Shared Hope International

Vernon Smith – May 9, 1949 – July 31, 2018

Vernon Smith was a man who engaged in the fight against trafficking long before most men gave it even a passing thought. In 2006, sex trafficking was considered by many to be a woman’s issue; men who were involved were primarily law enforcement or other professionals pulled into the battle by reason of their occupations. But this man had a vision to mobilize men from all walks of life to speak out against the trafficking of America’s youth. That vision birthed the Defenders USA—the Men of Shared Hope.

Vernon invoked the name “Defenders” because he believed that men were God-ordained to defend and protect the vulnerable. He knew that men were the root cause of the sex trafficking of our children…and yet, a vital part of the solution! He saw that ending demand was the only real way to eradicate the problem and he called all men to the fight by first explaining the truth about sex trafficking and its link to pornography. He never lost faith that good men could be mobilized to stop others from getting involved in sexual exploitation.

Vernon stressed the need to end the objectification of women and treat them with respect and dignity. Not only was this his ideology, but it was also something he modeled in his 50 year marriage to Linda. He had a quiet spirit but that did not stop him from being a powerful force to be reckoned with, working tirelessly behind the scenes as foundational pillar and Vice President of Shared Hope and holding the men around him accountable to the Defenders Pledge.

Early on, Vernon discerned how the issue of pornography was inextricably linked to trafficking, grooming men and boys to become buyers. He perceived it as a public health crisis long before many used that term, and taught classes that exposed the dangers of pornography. Vern was a mentor to many men, as well as accountability partner in their personal fight against pornography. Because of his passion, the influence of The Defenders USA is felt today as more than 5000 men stand strong in the fight against domestic minor sex trafficking.

This pledge meant everything to him; he held it close to his heart and lived it every day:

I am taking a stand to fight against pornography, prostitution or any form of the commercial sex industry.
I will hold my friends accountable for their actions toward women and children.
I will take immediate action to protect those I love from this destructive market.

Vernon Smith’s assignment on earth ended on July 31, 2018. He will ever be remembered as the Defender and extraordinary Pathbreaker he was.

About This Year’s Awards

We award the Kaleidoscope because it is an apt representation of a Pathbreaker’s approach to the problem of sex trafficking. Viewed from the outside, the problem, like the kaleidoscope appears solid and impenetrable; but a look inside stirs the viewer’s imagination with creative possibilities that are shaped and colored by the lens through which they are considered.