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March 21, 2017 by Sarah Bendtsen

Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking is a Form of Child Abuse

Nine states are working on laws this year to ensure that the definition of child abuse includes the crime of child sex trafficking. You can take action to support these bills! See the list of those 9 states below.

Why does this definition matter?

As a nation, comprised of both federal and autonomously-acting state law, we have collectively acknowledged through legislation that domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) is a horrendous sexual crime in and of itself. Yet, at the heart of child sex trafficking is the recurrent rape and molestation of a child.

Subtracting the monetary exchange, we would label the crime as child sexual abuse, sexual assault, and rape. Yet, only 23 states define child sex trafficking, in all its forms, as child abuse. This fails to fully identify the dynamics of the crime. Most importantly, however, failing to identify DMST as a form of child abuse interferes with a systematic and consistent child protective response.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Only 23 states define child sex trafficking, in all its forms, as child abuse.” user=”SharedHope” hashtags=”StoptheinJuSTice”]

Providing a systematic response to survivors

Following extensive legal research and gathering of field guidance, Shared Hope’s JuST Response Council released the Protective Response Model, a composition of emerging best practices for responding to child sex trafficking. Amongst the numerous practices that have proven successful and victim-centered is equipping child welfare systems with the tools, knowledge, and structure to provide coordinated screenings, protection, and services to child victims of sex trafficking.

However, without amending the definition of child abuse to include all forms of child sex trafficking, child welfare agencies are unable to respond in such cases. The alternative scenario is local and state stakeholders are forced to piecemeal together a service response for victims. At best, this response will vary child-to-child. At worst, and most realistic, most children are not afforded a response at all.

[easy-tweet tweet=”When the definition of child abuse doesn’t include child sex trafficking, child welfare is unable to respond.”]

Further, amending the definition of child abuse to include all forms of child sex trafficking, including trafficking that occurs at the hands of a non-familial perpetrator, aligns state law with the federally-enacted Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act. As a result, the federal Act and state-led responses have served as goalposts for the remaining 27 states that have yet to acknowledge this form of violence as child abuse.

While the secondary, service-oriented responses vary largely state-to-state, amending the definition is a vital first step in opening the door for a coordinated, child welfare response. This statutory foundation is the building block for developing a victim-centered, individualized service plan for any and all children who are victims of sex trafficking. Ensuring that all 50 states and D.C. include DMST as a form of child abuse will close national legal holes and prevent some child victims from falling through the cracks.

Take Action!

This legislative session, Shared Hope is excited to be supporting nine states with pending legislation that would remove barriers to child welfare involvement. Please join us in taking action to ensure child sex trafficking victims in the following states can be identified as victims of child abuse, regardless of the offender’s familial status to the child:

Arizona, House Bill 2238
Arkansas, Senate Bill 271– PASSED!
Hawaii, House Bill 1099/Senate Bill 965
Idaho, Senate Bill 1005– PASSED!
Maryland, SB 308/HB 632
Maryland, SB 912/ HB 1219
Missouri, HB 1112
New Jersey, Assembly Bill 2906
Tennessee, Senate Bill 553/House Bill 615

[easy-tweet tweet=”9 states states are working to amend the definition of child abuse to include child sex trafficking.” user=”SharedHope”]

March 9, 2017 by Guest

New Dates & Give Aways for JuST Conference

Good News – “Bonnes Nouvelles”

The Louisiana Spirit is one of hospitality, celebration and support for their fellow neighbor. Since we announced our new location, locals have been reaching out nonstop to welcome us all to their great state.

That spirit of excitement is infectious, and Shared Hope wants to pass it along to each of you. We’ve come up with three great opportunities for you and your friends to win a free conference ticket for our 2017 event!

Each month, we’ll offer two free tickets until the Earlybird registration deadline on June 16. If your name is drawn, you will have one week to respond to the offer before the opportunity is passed along to someone else. Tickets will be transferrable, but only to individuals who have never attended.

Alumni Drawing on March 31 – The first free tickets will go to our faithful alumni attendees. We’ll draw two names from the attendee lists of our 2014 – 2016 events.

Refer-a-friend Drawing on April 28 – Second drawing will be for you and a friend. In order to be eligible you must “refer a friend” by having them sign up for our conference updates here. When they register, they should enter your name and email so we can track your entries. Each new friend registered is a new entry in the drawing for your free ticket + theirs. The more friends you refer, the better your chances are! Referrals can be logged from now until the drawing, so you better get going…!

Gulf States Drawing on May 31– Third drawing is to support our friends in the Gulf States (TX, LA, MS, AL, FL) that have not been able to send many representatives to D.C. in previous years. Anyone who resides in these states, and signs up to receive Shared Hope conference updates, will be eligible to win a free ticket.

Bad News – “Mauvaises Nouvelles”

Shared Hope recently received news from our event hosts at Hyatt that there’s a conflict with our function space during our selected conference dates. As a result, we have decided to shift the event dates by one week in order to better accommodate our conference attendance.

The new 2017 JuST Conference dates are October 24-26. Nothing else will change. We are still offering the same room rate, the same amenities and activities, the same outstanding lineup of speakers. For those attendees who have already booked hotel rooms or flights, please note that Hyatt has offered to provide support for any attendee affected by this conflict. Hotel rooms have been rebooked already. Fees related to flight changes can be reimbursed by Hyatt, certain restrictions apply. Contact our conference organizer by March 31 to get assistance or instructions for making changes to your travel plans. If you have previously requested an invoice and are no longer able to come, contact our team to submit your cancellation notice.

Reminders – “N’oublie pas!”

Presenter applications: If you or your agency would like to present at the conference this year, applications are due by April 7. They must be completed in full. Visit this link to download the application package today.

Registration: Registration will open at the end of the month, keep an eye out for the announcement.

Booking your hotel: The hotel room block expires September 25th, be sure to book early before it fills up. You can book your room online today by visiting this link.

Mark your calendars for October 24-26 and laissez les bons temps rouler!

March 3, 2017 by Guest

Bringing Students to the Table

Texas State Senator Zaffirini’s proposed Senate Bill seeks to require the Texas State Board of Education to develop a training program and curriculum on sex trafficking prevention to be included as part of a school district’s health curriculum. The creation of this curriculum not only creates vital information-access points for children, it requires educators and administrators to acknowledge their role in protecting children and responding to vulnerabilities that are inherent to the population that they serve. Equipping children with information related to the realities of sex trafficking, avoiding high-risk activities or harmful relationships, and strategies for recognizing and reporting suspected sex trafficking, recognizes that empowered children are less vulnerable to the manipulation and coercion that offenders may employ. Additionally, children are oftentimes the best “eyes” and “ears” for identifying vulnerable or at-risk friends or peers; armed with the right information, educated and aware children can play a vital role in preventing child sex trafficking in their communities, schools, and homes.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Empowered children are less vulnerable to manipulation and coercion.” user=”SharedHope”]

Shared Hope supports Senator Zaffirini’s bill, as it statutorily builds on the practices that Shared Hope has engaged in over the last 15 years. Working closely with schools and educators across the country and internationally, Shared Hope’s Senior Director, Nancy Winston, Director of Training, Elizabeth Scaife, and hundreds of Ambassadors of Hope have presented Chosen, a training for students, teachers, and administrators. At its crux, Shared Hope’s school trainings build awareness as to what domestic child sex trafficking looks like, how teachers, parents, and students can prevent it. Perhaps most importantly, however, Shared Hope’s training seeks to equip children with information so that they will be informed adult citizens who ideally work to ensure future generations are not facing the same plights of violence and exploitation that our current children face.

To date, Chosen has been shown to 15, 525 students across the U.S. and countless teachers have continued the conversation on child sex trafficking, building it into their own curriculum. This has not only increase national understanding and prevention efforts, it has also aided in the identification of children who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, sexual violence, or recognize such victimization in their peers. One of Chosen’s major themes is the importance of telling some “if something seems wrong.” Following the presentation in one Midwestern school, an eighth grade student revealed a child trafficking situation occurring at her neighbor’s house. In another school, following an Ambassador presentation, a teacher from that school contacted the Ambassador several weeks after the Chosen viewing to alert the Ambassador that one of her students had revealed that she had been raped by her father but that Chosen had allowed her to feel safe enough to talk about it and seek help.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Chosen has been shown to 15, 525 students across the U.S., helping to prevent child sex trafficking. “]

Curriculum and trainings such a Chosen are crucial for connecting our front line folks– our children, educators, and parents– with important information for responding to and, ultimately, preventing children sex trafficking in our communities. Please join Shared Hope in supporting Senator Zaffirini’s efforts in requiring Texas public schools to provide sex trafficking education as part of the health curriculum. If you are interested in scheduling a showing of Chosen in your local school or community, you can find more information here.

March 1, 2017 by Sarah Bendtsen

Why does it matter?

Wrestling with the intersectionality of language and response

As lawyers and activists, Shared Hope’s Policy Team is frequently fielding the question, “Why does it matter?” “Why does it matter what language we use?” “Why does it matter who responds to the plight of a trafficked child?” “Why does this specific law matter?” These questions are sound—in fact, we are grappling with the same. These questions are at the heart of every bill we write, every testimony we provide, and every conversation we have. If we fail to uncover and respond appropriately to the “why,” we will fail in our efforts to respond appropriately, through law and policy, to the victimization of our nation’s trafficked children.

Ultimately, language shapes how we view a person or issue. Referring to a commercially sexually exploited child as a prostitute not only conjures up a plethora of stereotypes and assumptions, it lays the foundation for the responses that a child will receive. Whereas a “prostituted” child stirs up the misplaced idea of an incorrigibly wild tween who deserves correction and punishment, a child victimized by a serious and systemic sexual crime properly identifies that child as requiring and deserving of protection, sympathy, and services.

More bluntly, the underlying crime of child sex trafficking is the raping and sexual molestation of a child. Our society and legal systems rightfully identify this type of sexual conduct between an adult and child as sexual abuse and violence; money neither sanitizes this crime, nor reverses the role of offender and victim. Language matters. Our commercially sexually exploited children are not criminals, they are victims of a crime, victims of circumstances, and in too many states, victims of a criminal justice system that punishes, rather than protects.

[easy-tweet tweet=”Language matters. Our commercially sexually exploited children are not criminals, they are victims of a crime. “]

This year, ten states sought legislation that demands protection not punishment for commercially sexual exploited children. If passed, these ten states would join the 19 other states to clarify that a minor cannot be prosecuted for prostitution offenses. These states understand that children, facing unimaginable plights, are victims, not “prostitutes,” “delinquents,” or “rebels.”

Words matter. Our responses matter. Your support matters.

States who introduced Non-Criminalization Legislation in 2017:

Massachusetts
Wisconsin
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Louisianan
Indiana
Maine
Missouri
Pennsylvania
West Virginia

Take action at our Legislative Action Center

February 17, 2017 by Sarah Bendtsen

Buyers of Sex with Children are Trafficking Offenders

On January 27^th, Shared Hope launched the Stop the InJuSTice campaign to advocate for state laws that prioritize victim protection and buyer accountability. Since the Protected Innocence Challenge (PIC) commenced in 2011, state action on domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) has increased exponentially. Shared Hope has worked with over half of the U.S. states to craft, enact, and strengthen bills that address state-specific recommendations made in the Protected Innocence Challenge (PIC) Analysis and Recommendation Reports. The result has been an unceasing increase in state grades, and most importantly, a national trend towards more comprehensive and protective responses for child victims of sex trafficking.

While many states have committed to tackling some of the more nuanced areas of DMST, nationally, we need to reaffirm our vow to addressing the complexities of this violence. 44 states and D.C. have child sex trafficking laws that differentiate between the sex trafficking of adults and children, and have shifted the evidentiary burden accordingly. However, of those 44 states and D.C., only 11 states have included language within their core sex trafficking law that specifically applies to buyers of sex with children. This gap conflicts with the reality of DMST— buyers play a fundamental role in the crime of sex trafficking—without buyers there would be no victims. Failing to recognize the equal role buyers play in creating a marketplace that survives on the sexual abuse, violence, and commercial exploitation of children, also limits which children can be identified as victims of sex trafficking. This limitation directly impacts which children can receive the protection, services, and access to justice that is specifically provided for victims of sex trafficking.

[easy-tweet tweet=”As a nation we need to reaffirm our vow to addressing the complexities of this violence.” hashtags=”StoptheinJuSTice, PIC” url=”http://bit.ly/2kGNljL”]

We are thrilled to announce that, through the Stop the InJuSTice campaign, Shared Hope is currently supporting five states that have introduced legislation this session that, if enacted, would include buyer conduct in the law as a core human trafficking offense:

Colorado HB 1072 (Sponsor: Representative Lawrence)
Connecticut HB 6632 (Sponsor: Representative Kokoruda)
Georgia HB 341 (Sponsor: Representative Reeves)
Nebraska LB 289 (Sponsor: Senator Pansing Brooks)
Oklahoma HB 1832 (Sponsor: Representative Osborn)

[easy-tweet tweet=”Shared Hope is currently supporting bills in 5 states that would clarify that buyers are trafficking offenders.” url=”http://bit.ly/2kGNljL “]

We need your help to ensure these bills pass! You can support these bills, and many more, at our Stop the InJuSTice campaign site. Simply go to the site, find your state on our interactive action map, and take one of these actions: