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December 13, 2016 by Susanna Bean

Reshma and Angel’s Story of Hope

Reshma was little more than a child herself when she was lured from her remote village in Nepal to Kathmandu— then enslaved by a bar owner who sold girls for sex along with the drinks. Soon she found she was pregnant…and regardless of the means, she was in love with the baby she carried. Friendless and terrified in the tumult of Kathmandu, she silently promised her “Angel” a future. When she heard of a missionary couple who would gladly take the baby, the decision was made. Reshma surrendered Angel at birth, then found her way to a place an acquaintance told her about where she might stay for a while. That place was Asha Nepal, a partner organization that Shared Hope helped establish and faithfully supports.

The tiny young mother, sick emotionally and physically, was gently carried to a bed for the rest and care she needed so badly. In her fevered dreams she heard children shouting…and upon fully awakening, realized this was real…the place she thought was a home for cast-off women was full of children! Horrified, Reshma realized she had not needed to give up her Angel and begged Asha Nepal’s founder to help get her back. Through prayer and some artful negotiation, Angel was placed in the arms of her beaming mother who proceeded to keep her promise to Angel for a future. They spent over three years as part of the Asha Nepal family, and in 2016, gainfully employed, Reshma and Angel moved into their own small apartment in Kathmandu.

Your support made this story of restoration possible. And it is your commitment to Shared Hope and women like Reshma which inspires us to keep fighting to end child sex trafficking.

November 22, 2016 by Susanna Bean

4 Ways to Give on #GivingTuesday

Here are a few simple ways to give back on #GivingTuesday to support the life-saving work of Shared Hope International.

1) Amazon Smile

Knock out that Christmas shopping AND donate to Shared Hope! When you start your shopping at smile.amazon.com, you get the same prices as the regular Amazon.com, and Amazon donates 0.5% of your purchases to Shared Hope! Simply go to smile.amazon.com instead of amazon.com, enter “Shared Hope International” as the charitable organization you want to support, and shop as you normally would! We’ll get a check at the end of the quarter that includes the contribution from your purchase.

2) Double your Gift

Thanks to several generous partners – your #GivingTuesday donation will go twice as far to help vulnerable women and children, through our $150,000 Christmas Hope Matching Challenge. Please give today to double your gift and help support prevention, restoration and justice solutions for victims of trafficking.

This year you can also use this fundraising platform to create and promote your own #GivingTuesday fundraiser for Shared Hope! Simply click the red, “Become a Fundraiser” button and follow the steps to create your own page to raise money for Shared Hope. Invite all your friends to support Shared Hope on #GivingTuesday.

3) Donate through the Combined Federal Campaign

The Combined Federal Campaign allows Federal civilian, postal and military donors to pledge a financial contribution to support eligible non-profit organizations that provide health and human service benefits. The CFC is the world’s largest annual workplace charity campaign that helps to raise millions of dollars each year. To contribute to Shared Hope International through your organization’s CFC, submit this number: #60601 to your human resources or payroll department. The minimum monthly contribution is $1.00.

4) Donate Stock or Estate Funds

If you have appreciated stock or property, you can greatly benefit from wise tax planning and giving by December 31, 2016, through a couple of different options:

A cash gift, dated and postmarked by December 31, 2016.
Gifts of appreciated stock or property. An asset that you’ve had for over a year, which has increased in value, can be donated to Shared Hope, and you may avoid capital gains tax. You also get the applicable charitable deduction for this year’s taxes.

For help in planning your special gift, please contact Sheila Avery, Senior Director of Finance for Shared Hope International, at 1-866-HER-LIFE (1-866-437-5433) or email Sheila@sharedhope.org

November 17, 2016 by Susanna Bean

Despite Sex Trafficking Laws, Kids Can be Charged with Prostitution in Majority of States While Exploiters Walk Away

WASHINGTON, D.C., Every state now has a law covering child sex trafficking according to an annual State Report Card released by Shared Hope International (SHI), the only U.S. NGO working in every state to end child sex trafficking through legal reform.

“But kids can still be prosecuted as criminals in 31 states because law has not kept up with reality – the reality is that these children are victims of sex trafficking and cannot be criminals at the same time for the same thing,” said SHI founder Linda Smith, at a press conference in Orlando, FL where the National Foundation for Women Legislators is meeting.

SHI started the annual report card—known as the Protected Innocence Challenge—six years ago, in 2011, when 26 states got Fs and 15 had Ds. This year 30 states have As and Bs.

While she commended legislators and activists for the progress they have made, “We must stop criminalizing kids for crimes committed against them!” declared Smith. “Domestic minors are twice condemned: first by sex buyers and the voracious commercial sex trade, then by the juvenile justice system.”
“Only when buying sex becomes very costly—meaning steep fines and jail time—will we be able to prevent this crime from happening in the first place,” Linda observed. Shared Hope research shows that a very small percentage of buyers are arrested and even fewer do time.

Although the majority of minors identified in the commercial sex industry are girls, an increasing number of service providers across the U.S. say young men are victimized too.

Dr. Brook Bello, founder of More Too Life and Florida’s 2016 Advocate of the Year, has worked with hundreds of sex trafficking survivors.
Regarding sex buyers, Dr. Bello admonished, “Bringing cash to the scene of the crime should not give you immunity.”

Alyssa Beck, Survivor Advocate said, “The system failed me at age 15 by not recognizing that I was a victim. Instead I was arrested. Men who bought sex with me were never brought to justice.”

Linda Smith, served as a state legislator and Member of Congress from Washington State (1983-1998), and is the author of Renting Lacy (2009). She founded Shared Hope in 1998.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Susanna Bean
717.608.1039
Susanna@sharedhope.org

MEDIA MATERIALS:
For media convenience, a variety of resources are available at our Press Center. Video clips, including sex trafficking survivor comments, are available at this location: https://vimeo.com/user12564384/videos. Videos are password protected, please enter password sharedmedia1 to access media clips.

November 17, 2016 by Susanna Bean

National Foundation of Women Legislators Passes Resolution on Child Sex Trafficking

Today at the annual conference for the National Foundation of Women Legislators the members passed an important resolution on child sex trafficking. Shared Hope International has worked with NFWL to craft a resolution that addresses the key issues currently confronting legislators responding to child sex trafficking victims.

You can read the whole resolution below.

Resolution regarding the critical importance of improving protections for child sex trafficking victims.

WHEREAS child sex trafficking is a form of modern slavery that exploits some of the most vulnerable members of society;

WHEREAS online exploitation has exponentially expanded the market for child victims who are bought and sold through online classified websites and other online venues developed around the commercial sex market;

WHEREAS child sex trafficking victims suffer serious trauma resulting from commercial sexual exploitation, regardless of whether they have an identified trafficker;

WHEREAS buyers of sex with children are central perpetrators in the crime of sex trafficking and failure to address the conduct of buyers as a crime of sex trafficking creates barriers to critical protections, services and resources for child victims;

WHEREAS children, who cannot consent to engage in commercial sex, must not be criminalized for commercial sexual conduct that is inherent to their victimization;

WHEREAS children who are exploited through commercial sex are victims of sex trafficking in need of specialized, trauma-informed services in lieu of being arrested and detained for their own victimization; and

WHEREAS strong state laws are critical to preventing children from becoming victims of sex trafficking and for protecting those children who have been exploited; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that members of the National Foundation of Women Legislators—

(1) strongly condemn the crime of child sex trafficking;

(2) recognize the need for states to develop mandatory response laws on behalf of child sex trafficking victims that ensure access to services and resources for recovery;

(3) call on every state to set a clear goal and plan for eliminating criminalization of minors for commercial sexual conduct and other conduct that is a result of their trafficking victimization; and

(4) urge every state to statutorily recognize all commercially sexually exploited children as child sex trafficking victims and align the state sex trafficking law with the reality that children are exploited by both traffickers and buyers by ensuring both types of offenders are acknowledged as perpetrators under the state’s core sex trafficking law.

November 10, 2016 by Susanna Bean

Pathbreaker Awards 2016

Shared Hope International is pleased to announce Michelle Guymon and Margie Quin as the 2016 Pathbreaker Award Honorees.

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.

Michelle Guymon, MSW – Director of the Child Trafficking Unit Los Angeles County Probation Department

Michelle Guymon is Director of the Child Trafficking Unit with Los Angeles County Probation Department, the nation’s first probation department with a unit specifically devoted to addressing the physical, mental and emotional needs of commercially sexually exploited youth. Michelle has been instrumental in the creation and implementation of the Los Angeles County’s Law Enforcement First Responder Protocol for Commercially Sexually Exploited Children for which she serves as the project manager. This nationally recognized protocol which was launched in August 2014 places a priority on treating trafficked children as victims rather than criminals. She is a frequent presenter and trainer, has received numerous awards for her work in the area of child sex trafficking, and has been featured in the media as a subject matter expert on the topic, specifically within the juvenile justice system. Michelle is currently the lead on the Los Angeles County CSEC Action Team working with various county/community agencies to create a multi-system response model for CSEC in Los Angeles County. Michelle prioritizes survivor leadership in her work, and has led the development of an innovative yearly conference created by young survivors for young survivors. She provides field expertise to Shared Hope through her ongoing work as a member of our JuST Response Council. She is an advocate for youth and is very passionate about her work within the Probation Department.

Margie Quin – Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

Margie’s twenty-three years of law enforcement experience include patrol, criminal investigations, high-tech surveillance, drug interdiction, supervision and leadership. Margie received her M.S. in Public Service Management from Cumberland University, a B.S. in Criminology from Auburn University and graduated from the 241^st session of the F.B.I. National Academy. During her nineteen years with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, her assignments included the Middle Tennessee Drug Division, Technical Services Unit and she was promoted in April of 2007 to Assistant Special Agent in Charge in the Criminal Intelligence Unit, housed within the Tennessee Fusion Center. In 2010, ASAC Quin led a T.B.I./Vanderbilt team to research and publish the groundbreaking and award winning study, “Tennessee Human Sex Trafficking and its Impact on Children and Youth.” This study has paved the way for passage of 43 pieces of legislation in the state of Tennessee since 2011. ASAC Quin supervises the first-ever statewide Human Trafficking Unit. The newly formed unit has conducted six major undercover operations across the state since 2015. These demand reduction operations, code named, “Someone Like Me,” have resulted in the arrest of over 120 men and identified over 30 women, who were provided services at the time of encounter. ASAC Quin’s career awards include: 2000 T.B.I. Agent of the Year, 2009 AMBER Alert Coordinator of the Year for the United States and 2014 Tennessee Victim Advocate of the Year.

About This Year’s Awards

This year’s Pathbreaker awards are original works by Kristen Tebow, a survivor of sex trafficking and leader in the anti-trafficking movement. After 8 years of sobriety and two bachelor’s degrees, she is currently pursuing her Masters in Social Work and engaged full time as a trainer, presenter, and advocate in the Lawrence, KS community where she was trafficked. Kristen uses the wisdom gained through her trauma in her work with youth and adult survivors of commercial sexual exploitation. Besides being a wife and “mother” of two Jack Russell Terriers, she is an accomplished painter. Here is her description of the motivation behind the works she created for the Pathbreaker Awards:

Learning to Swim—“I have learned that life will always have storms and frightening waves. You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to swim through them. It’s how you handle them that really counts.”

Lifeline —“Wonderful people in my life have led me to my current state of peace. I didn’t get there by myself; the many people who have cheered me on continue to be the lifeline that pulls me forward.”