PII Archives - Shared Hope International

April 12, 2012 by Guest

On the Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, President Obama Refocused Efforts on Modern Day Slavery

By Anne Reilly

On March 15, President Obama held a meeting with cabinet members and senior advisors to lay out plans to put an end to modern day slavery. The United States has long been a leader in addressing international human trafficking. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton led the group in discussing the current situation and making plans to combat the issue. The United States plans to utilize tools to combat human trafficking including: law enforcement, victim service provisions, increasing public awareness, and diplomatic pressure. These tools can be used domestically or internationally to target traffickers and help protect victims. In addition, the United States will increase partnerships with organizations, schools, businesses, and local communities.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKTj5beMjmw’]

The U.S. was one of the first countries to take action against slavery in its modern form. In 2000, Congress passed the “Trafficking Victims Protection Act” in order to address the problem. This law gave a federal definition to the crime of sex trafficking and created the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons within the U.S. Department of State to study the issue. Every year since the enactment of the TVPA the U.S. Department of State releases a “Trafficking in Persons Report”evaluating the efforts of every country in prevention, prosecution, protection and partnership to combat human trafficking. Countries are ranked using a tier system. Low ranking countries face public scrutiny and possible sanctions, prompted many countries to toughen anti-trafficking efforts.

Though the TVPA provides a strong legal platform, many states are lacking laws on the issue. Shared Hope spearheaded the effort to make sex trafficking a priority issue in states by creating the Protected Innocence Challenge in 2011. Every year this challenge will evaluate states based on its current legislation regarding domestic minor sex trafficking. Each state receives a grade for its efforts, as well as recommendations on how to strengthen laws to protect citizens

President Obama said, “I am confident that we will one day end the scourge of modern slavery, because I believe in those committed to this issue: young people, people of faith and station, Americans who refuse to accept this injustice and will not rest until it is vanquished.”

We couldn’t agree more.

February 24, 2012 by Guest

Holding Online Facilitators Accountable: Campaign Targeted at Backpage.com

Since Shared Hope’s December 2011 release of the Protected Innocence Initiative, many states have had a torrent of new bills going out addressing the gaps in their laws which leave minors vulnerable to sex trafficking. As part of this initiative, Shared Hope evaluated the laws of each state in regards to their punishments for facilitators. Facilitators are those people or entities that knowingly enable domestic minor sex trafficking or benefit from sex trafficking in any way. While our analysis did not specifically focus on online facilitators, law enforcement and service providers have identified it as an increasing concern.

President and Founder of Shared Hope International, Congresswoman Linda Smith, explained in testimony before the Washington Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday, January 27^th, it seems illogical to believe that these sites should escape accountability because they happen “in the cloud”. (Click here to listen to Congresswoman Smith’s testimony.)

Traditionally facilitators were thought of as a taxi cab driver or hotel employee assisting or turning a blind eye away from sex trafficking. However it is increasingly becoming apparent that there are many forms of facilitation of child sex trafficking. While a few states currently hold facilitators responsible by holding them to criminal or civil penalties, there are still barriers when it comes to online facilitators.

Backpage.com is an online classifieds site owned by Village Voice Media Group where many so-called “adult” ads are placed. Backpage.com has been identified by law enforcement and service providers as a hub for child sex trafficking. News outlets in states across the country have been reporting cases confirming Backpage.com is being used by traffickers to place ads offering minors for commercial sex. For example, in Florida, Leighton Curtis was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for bringing a 15-year-old girl into the state where he took sexually explicit photographs of her and advertised her for commercial sex on websites including Backpage.com. Another case involved Theodore Briggs of Connecticut who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for sex trafficking a 14 and 17 year old. He used Backpage.com to advertise the girls for sex to buyers.

Backpage.com profits each time a minor is advertised for commercial sex on the site. An independent study by Advanced Interactive Media Group found that the adult section of Backpage.com is expected to earn Village Voice Media Group $24.8 million this year. While the act of profiting from child sex trafficking could lead to criminal charges for on-the-ground facilitators, Backpage.com has been left relatively unchanged throughout this process. Village Voice Media has claimed that their website is protected by the Communications Decency Act. They have been unwilling to close down this section of their website or even though they have been made well aware by law enforcement, policy officials and the victims themselves that domestic minor sex trafficking is happening there.

Shared Hope International is leading a national campaign inviting mayors across the nation to join our efforts to encourage Village Voice Media to stop facilitating child sex trafficking on Backpage.com. In addition, 51 state attorney generals, 53 anti-trafficking experts and organizations, and nearly 3,000 faith leaders of different denominations are publically calling on Backpage.com to shut this section down. We will not stop our efforts until children are no longer advertised online for sex.

February 8, 2012 by SHI Staff

“The Life”: What Circumstances Walked Leah and her Sister into this Living Terror?

She was just 12 years old when she was led into “the life” by her 14-year-old half-sister. After several horrible weeks, she was rescued by police officers — they found her sister in a hotel room, engaged in a sex act with a man, with Leah naked and crouched in a corner, crying hysterically.

What circumstances walked Leah and her sister into this living terror? Did this scenario take place in conjunction with the Super Bowl or another major sporting event? Was her 14 year old sister one of those youngsters featured on Backpage.com as “young and fresh”? Was life at home simply a rehearsal for the abuse the girls would get on the street?

The arm that wrapped around them and pulled them close…the voice that whispered promises of hope and care…the hand that reached out with belonging…they suddenly turned into hot breath and a vice grip. No twisting out of its grasp. The grasp of DEMAND.

Regardless of how they got there, Leah and her sister were taken because young girls are seen as sex plums for the picking-and until there are real consequences for “picking”, there’s no stopping it. DEMAND.

Shared Hope is fighting DEMAND because even one girl is one too many. Our Protected Innocence Initiative is helping to change laws all over the country and bear down on that demand. Since December 1, 2011, when the Protected Innocence Initiative was announced, over 60 state laws have been introduced to address all aspects of the thriving marketplace of children for sale for sex. We applaud leadership in Indiana, host of this year’s Super Bowl, who moved aggressively to pass key anti-trafficking legislation in advance of the event.

And we are grateful to you for your encouragement and your support that have made the Protected Innocence Initiative possible and effective!