Last year, Shared Hope issued failing grades to over half the states for their legal provisions to protect America’s innocent against domestic minor sex trafficking. We challenged each state to raise their grade. They heard us! Taking this challenge head on, more than 30 states have introduced a total of 90 bills (and counting!) that […]
Protected Innocence Initiative Part 2: Criminal Provisions Addressing Demand
Demand fuels the commercial sex industry. Without buyers seeking paid sex with children, traffickers would not have a market to sell young children for sexual exploitation. To achieve significant deterrence, severe penalties must be in place to adequately punish the crime of purchasing sex with a child. This dynamic is illustrated in the case below. […]
Part 1: Victims or perpetrators: Who goes free in the “Land of the Free”
The words “human trafficking” often conjure images of dark, grungy alleys in countries such as India and Thailand. Though awareness is growing, the 100,000-300,000children that officials estimate are forced into prostitution each year are often not regarded as trafficking victims, though legally defined as such by the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA), because the […]
Exams to Midnight Exploitation
Bikinis are on, margarita in hand, and party pants are securely fastened. Spring break here we come!!! As exciting as spring break vacation is for young people in America, many don’t consider the serious threat that sex trafficking poses in resort areas on American soil during this time. With prime resort locations fluctuating in population by […]
An Earnest Request: Survivor letter to 2011 Super Bowl Host Committee
After working on this issue for over a decade, we’ve read through countless touching letters, describing the horrific events of being sold for sex. This letter hits close to home as the author describes how she was forced to travel to Dallas against her will, in the very same area which will host next week’s 2011 Super […]