Report Card Archives - Shared Hope International

This week, Shared Hope International traveled to the Lone Star State to release the third of 51 Protected Innocence Report Cards. In partnership with Children at Risk, Shared Hope International presented the Texas Report Card to trafficking survivors, former pimps, former NFL players, and congressional members in Dallas on Saturday at a community rally sponsored by Traffick 911. In addition, Shared Hope presented the Texas Protected Innocence Report Card at events in San Antonio, Houston and Austin alongside fellow advocates for change including Senator Leticia Van de Putt, Rep. Senfronia Thompson, Attorney General Greg Abbott, Chris Burchell (Texas Anti-Trafficking In Persons) and many others.

Texas scored a “C,” indicating that Texas state law contains some provisions against domestic minor sex trafficking, but leaves generous room for improvement. One of the key findings of the Report Card was that current state law requires proof of force to prove the crime of trafficking-even for children. This is a direct contradiction to the federal Trafficking Victim’s Protection Act, which recognizes any child exploited through commercial sex as a victim of trafficking.

While there is a sizable legislative gap in Texas that threatens to entrap domestic minor sex trafficking victims, Shared Hope International offers solutions. One of the key recommendations is that Texas enact a stand alone sex trafficking of a child statute, which eliminates the requirement to prove force, includes the crime of buying sex with a minor, and ensures identification of a minor victim as a trafficking victim.

Shared Hope International offers this, and many other recommendations, in a complete Analysis and Recommendation document to expose legislative gaps and provide legislators with the tools they need to ensure the protection of victims and the punishment of criminals.

Legislative changes are necessary to help combat the exploitation of Texas’ children. According to a 2009 report by the Texas Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force, “11,942 juveniles were arrested for running away in Texas. An additional 66 were arrested for prostitution and commercialized vice.” Recently, Traffick911 pushed its “I’m not buying it”campaign to help raise awareness about child sex trafficking surrounding Super Bowl XLV. Arlington police made an astounding 59 prostitution related arrests leading up to the game.

Due to the prevalence of human trafficking in Texas, lawmakers have introduced several new bills aimed at increasing penalties for traffickers and providing protection for minors: HB1121,1122, and SB 98 are just a few. This push toward change is mirrored by Attorney General Greg Abbott, who gave a keynote address in San Antonio calling for more collaboration between law enforcement officials to “ensure [Texas] is both hostile territory for human traffickers and a safe haven for their victims.”

All of these efforts are a step in the right direction toward combating domestic minor sex trafficking. Now it’s up to you. If you live in Texas, alert your representative to this critical issue and make your voice count!

Today, Washington State Attorney General McKenna joined Shared Hope International to release the first Protected Innocence Report Card – Washington. The Report Card is based on the Protected Innocence Legislative Frameworkand sets a national standard of protection against domestic minor sex trafficking.

Washington State is blazing a path to protect their children from child sex trafficking. First, bi-partisan leadership from across the state came together to amend the Promoting Commercial Sexual Abuse of a Minor law, which significantly increased penalties for traffickers and buyers of children. Additionally, YouthCare opened the state’s first shelter specifically funded and programmatically designed as a safe haven for child victims of sex trafficking. However, despite these great strides, Washington received a “C”, indicating that it still has significant legislative gaps to close in an effort to create safe environments for Washington’s children.

The embracing of the Report Card by Attorney General McKenna, in spite of the mediocre grade, shows his commitment to advancing Washington’s efforts in strengthening laws that would protect children from traffickers. In December at the National Association of Attorney’s General, Attorney General McKenna challenged his colleagues to take Protected Innocence Initiative back to their states and to make combating child sex trafficking a top priority in 2011.

The Washington Report Card outlines four critical legislative changes needed:

– Amend the state human trafficking law to align with the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act by eliminate the requirement of force, fraud or coercion in cases of child sex trafficking.

– Amend the patronizing a prostitute law to distinguish the solicitation of a minor with reference to commercial sexual abuse of a minor and/or human trafficking law as the applicable crime and penalty. Currently, the law on solicitation/patronizing a prostitute does not differentiate adults from a minor and is a misdemeanor – regardless of age.

– The Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) should amend their definition of caregiver to include a “person in control and possession of a sexually exploited child” to bring a child victim of trafficking within the protection of DSHS.

– Amend laws to increase investigative tools for law enforcement by allowing for audio-taping conversations with persons involved in sex trafficking without need for a court order.

Linda Smith commended the work done in 2010, which she recognizes for raising Washington’s grade to the resulting “C”. However, Smith challenges: “We must ask ourselves, is a barely passing grade good enough for our children?” If barely passing isn’t good enough for you, take action by asking several key leaders to uphold their commitment to Washington’s children by strengthening the laws this legislative session!

Everythang’s Bigger’n Texas, Except Their Grade!

Washington Scores a “C” Despite 2010 Strides