specialized services Archives - Shared Hope International

May 6, 2021 by Guest

Pope Francis Appoints Survivor to Office to Protect Minors

On March 24, 2021, Pope Francis appointed Juan Carlos Cruz, a survivor of child sexual abuse, to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which was established in 2015 to formally address the scandal of sex abuse of minors within the Catholic church. Pope Francis is facing perhaps the greatest crisis of his papacy due to the new wave of sexual scandals that have emerged on his watch. The Pope’s appointment of Juan Carlos Cruz is a giant leap for change.

After The Boston Globe‘s 2002 coverage of the child sexual abuse scandal in the Boston archdiocese of the Catholic Church, U.S. bishops felt compelled to formulate a coordinated response. As the breadth and depth of the scandals became apparent in dioceses across the US, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), in June 2002, unanimously approved a Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (more commonly known as the Dallas Charter) that pledged that the Catholic Church in the U.S. would provide a “safe environment” for all children in Church-sponsored activities¹. To accomplish this, the U.S. bishops made a commitment to developing uniform procedures for handling sex-abuse allegations against lay teachers in Catholic schools, parish staff members, coaches, and other staff and volunteers who represent the Church to young people¹.

Pope Francis’ commitment to protecting children is evident in appointing Juan Carlos Cruz, elevating his voice as a survivor, lived-experience expert and member of the LGBTQ+ community. In a tweet, Juan Carlos Cruz stated, “I am very grateful to Pope Francis for trusting me with this appointment. I deeply appreciate it. This renews my commitment to continue working to end the scourge of abuse and for so many survivors who still do not have justice².” As we know within this movement, as quoted by the DOJ Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, “the survivor voice is vital in establishing effective anti-trafficking strategies that address prosecution, protection and prevention³.”

While these cases of child sexual abuse are not necessarily considered commercial sexual exploitation of youth (CSEY), evidence shows that child sexual abuse can lead to exploitation in adolescence and adulthood. According to the CDC, “females exposed to child sexual abuse are at a 2-13 times increased risk of sexual victimization in adulthood⁴.” The adverse childhood experience can also result in depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance abuse, among others⁴.

There is evidence the U.S. Catholic church has cut down on the level of sex abuse since the Dallas Charter was implemented. According to Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate — an authoritative source for statistics on Catholicism in the U.S. — there have been fewer than 300 allegations of clerical sex abuse of minors occurring since 2005 until 2020, compared with more than 11,500 allegations of abuse occurring in the 1970s and 1980s (2018)². However, victims and victim advocates claim more must be done to reduce the number of cases and to make offenders accountable for their crimes.

We commend Pope Francis for appointing survivor leader, Juan Carlos Cruz, to this vital role in the fight to protect children and youth from sexual abuse and further exploitation.

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Dr. Kim Robinson taught at Midwestern State University for several years including in the Study Abroad Program in London, England for 5 summers. While working in a private psychiatric hospital, she worked on a military unit and specialized in PTSD. She then worked for all 4 branches of the military until May of 2019. She currently is a “train the trainer” and consultant for the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth for Child Sexual Abuse and Sex Trafficking. She has served as an ambassador for Shared Hope International for a year. She is now working for Ranch Hands Rescue, (RHR) a sanctuary for abused and neglected humans and animals, and where animal-assisted therapy is used when appropriate. RHR will open the first safe house for male victims of sex trafficking between the ages of 18 and 24 in May 2021.

January 8, 2021 by Camryn Peterson

Charges against Zephi Trevino must be dropped

Zephi Trevino was 16 years old when she was first trafficked by a young adult, Philip Baldenegro, who originally posed and acted as her boyfriend. Just prior to meeting Baldenegro online, Zephi had been abused and introduced to drugs by another boyfriend, resulting in trauma that manifested in depression and anxiety, a significant departure from the happy, healthy and engaged child she had always been. Exploiting her trauma, Baldenegro gave Zephi drugs, threatened her and her family, and sold her for sex to adult men. Zephi’s exploitation and trafficking ended the night that Baldenegro shot and killed a man he had arranged to buy and rape Zephi; however, her horrific experiences of injustice, misidentification, and unanswered calls for help did not cease.

Miscarriage of justice.

The night of the murder, Zephi should have been identified by law enforcement as a victim of sex trafficking. Instead, she was arrested as an accomplice in the murder of the very man who had paid to rape her. Upon further investigation, prosecutors and detectives on the case, who were immediately presented with evidence of her exploitation, should have identified her victimization, dropped charges, and referred her to specialized service providers. Instead, Zephi was held in detention for over a year on capital murder and aggravated robbery charges. Only after public outcry and the retention of new counsel was she released on bond and house arrest. Texas state law and federal law clearly define Zephi as a victim of child sex trafficking, yet her victimization is continuously denied by her trafficker’s defense team, whose perceptions of child sex trafficking and sexual violence victimization are both inaccurate and self-serving.

Realities of sex trafficking .

The blatant denial of Zephi’s victimization reflects the persistent misunderstanding of sex trafficking victims’ behavior. Despite concerted efforts by survivors and anti-trafficking allies to decry the “perfect victim” myth and shed light on the realities of victimization and resulting trauma behaviors, we continue to see survivors being denied the rights and protections afforded to victims of sex trafficking due to misidentification of their experiences. Rather than looking at the legal definition, prosecutors and even defense attorneys struggle to see victimization even when the facts spell it out, just as they do in Zephi’s case. Survivors of sex trafficking have endured and survived horrific sexual violence, in addition to often-present physical, psychological and emotional abuse, substance use, stigmatization, commodification, and isolation from healthy and safe support. These experiences, often result in trauma, mental health challenges, and substance dependency linked to self-blame and shame. For these reasons, child sex trafficking survivors almost never self-identify or report their victimization. They don’t seek help from law enforcement, service providers, or even family and friends. Indeed, their traffickers often train them on how to hide their victimization, as Zephi’s trafficker did in this case.

One of the greatest challenges we face in combatting child sex trafficking is the lack of awareness that survivors’ trauma manifests in behaviors and decisions they see as necessary to survive their abuse. However, these are often behaviors and decisions that our systems then use to punish or discredit the survivor. This is the exact injustice Zephi is being subjected to; a history of substance use, running from home, and seeming indifference to violence are red flags of exploitation and abuse, not behaviors that discredit her experiences of trafficking victimization. Failing to fit within the fabricated box of “perfect victim” has not only resulted in additional trauma, it has her facing capital murder charges for a crime committed by her trafficker, deepening her involvement in a punitive system and isolating her from family and systems of support.

Your voice.

Your support matters! Using our collective voice to signal support for Zephi will encourage DA Creuzot to stand with sex trafficking survivors and bring justice to the plights they have experienced by dropping unjust charges against Zephi. Sign the petition today!

November 18, 2020 by Mark Porter

Shared Hope International launches Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking: State Action. National Change., an advanced legislative framework and blueprint for action.

Building on a decade of successful advocacy through the Protected Innocence Challenge, Shared Hope International’s Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking will advance the standards for grading states on delivering legal solutions that address this vulnerable population.

Washington, DC, Nov. 18, 2020 – Since 1998, Shared Hope has worked to inspire lawmaking that brings justice and ensures protective responses to victims. Beginning in 2011, the organization leveraged its position as a nationally recognized leader in the fight to end domestic minor sex trafficking through the Protected Innocence Challenge–report cards grading states on the fundamental fabric of laws that address child sex trafficking. Now, Report Cards on Child and Youth Sex Trafficking will motivate states to move beyond fundamentals and consider effective protection and services. This project, announced on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 serves as the blueprint for the next phase in Shared Hope’s campaign for State Action. National Change. and the catalyst for stronger state legislation to protect commercially sexually exploited youth.

“When Shared Hope first issued state grades in 2011, 26 states earned failing grades. Many did not have a child sex trafficking law or make it a crime to buy sex with a child; today, just a decade later, all states have a child sex trafficking law and a legal framework for holding buyers of sex with children accountable” said Linda Smith, founder and president of Shared Hope. “Analyzing state laws for a decade revealed where gaps remain. Report Cards on Child and Youth Sex Trafficking addresses those gaps by shifting focus to the inadequate protections being provided to these survivors.” This video showcases the look towards the future.

With states playing a critical role in eradicating child and youth sex trafficking, the original framework sought to lay the foundation for transformational policy, practice, and culture change by advocating for laws that protect victims and hold perpetrators accountable. Through grassroots mobilization, legislative advocacy, technical assistance, and consistent collaboration, this vision has largely become a reality. Critical gaps in state laws have been addressed, with thirty-five states, and D.C., earning an “A” or “B” grade in 2019.

Looking towards the next decade, with the support of stakeholders, Shared Hope International will build on the strong legal foundation laid over the last 10 years to push states further, with a more robust focus on policies that strengthen victim protections and prioritize true prevention. This includes addressing and funding specialized services for victims as well as focusing on gaps in demand enforcement.

Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking consists of 40 key points of law, grouped into six issue areas, that are needed under state law to provide a protective response to child and youth survivors of sex trafficking.

The six key issue areas are:

Criminal Provisions: Clear criminal laws, including those that criminalize buyers of sex with children, are needed to ensure all sex trafficking offenders can be held accountable.
Identification of and Response to Victims: State laws must identify all commercially sexually exploited children as victims of trafficking and provide for a protective, rather than punitive response.
Continuum of Care: To break the cycle of exploitation, state laws must provide victims access to funded, trauma-informed services.
Access to Justice for Trafficking Survivors: A range of civil and criminal justice remedies must be available for victims under the law.
Tools for a Victim-Centered Criminal Justice Response: Criminal justice procedures for the benefit and protection of victim-witnesses must be provided under the law.
Prevention and Training: To help prevent trafficking and promote just responses to child sex trafficking victims, training must be required by law for child welfare, juvenile justice, law enforcement, prosecutors and school personnel, and prevention education required for students.

“The past decade has led to new research and opportunities to listen to survivors, bringing ever-increasing clarity to laws and policies that must be in place to fully respond to child and youth sex trafficking,” said Smith. “At the core of this shift is stopping the victim-blaming that prevents children from being recognized as victims and accessing needed services. There is clearly much work to be done. Nineteen states still allow child victims to be charged with prostitution; in nineteen others the buyer can assert a defense that he didn’t know how old the child was; in nineteen more, buyers are not considered offenders under the child sex trafficking law. While we recognize changing laws to ensure greater protection for victims can be a heavy lift for states and providing services presents resource challenges, we’ve seen some states take the lead on this and we’re confident others will learn from their example.”

To stay up to date on this exciting project, sign up here to guarantee the Report Cards on Child and Youth Sex Trafficking will be delivered directly to you.

To support the implementation of this advanced framework, our Policy Team will remain available to provide rapid technical assistance to support legislators, advocates, and state agencies; technical assistance requests can be submitted here.

ABOUT SHARED HOPE INTERNATIONAL

Founded in 1998 by then U.S. Congresswoman Linda Smith, Shared Hope International strives to prevent the conditions that foster sex trafficking, promote restoration for survivors of sex trafficking, and bring justice to vulnerable women and children. A non-profit Christian organization, Shared Hope engages in diverse activities that confront sex trafficking in communities throughout America. Our efforts include training first responders and community members to identify warning signs of trafficking and employ intervention techniques to appropriately respond to child trafficking victims; providing restorative services to affected children and women; and offering legislative support to those focused on strengthening laws that fight child sex trafficking. Our vision is to coordinate a national U.S. network of protection to improve the response to victims of trafficking. We believe we can create a world where every survivor is surrounded by trained professionals, an alert community, just law and policy, knowledgeable service providers and appropriate shelter options.

MEDIA CONTACT: Mark Porter, Senior Director of Creative Strategies for Shared Hope International, mark@sharedhope.org, 202-963-2601 x408.

November 18, 2020 by Mark Porter

Shared Hope International launches Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking: State Action. National Change., an advanced legislative framework and blueprint for action.

The six key issue areas are:

Criminal Provisions: Clear criminal laws, including those that criminalize buyers of sex with children, are needed to ensure all sex trafficking offenders can be held accountable.
Identification of and Response to Victims: State laws must identify all commercially sexually exploited children as victims of trafficking and provide for a protective, rather than punitive response.
Continuum of Care: To break the cycle of exploitation, state laws must provide victims access to funded, trauma-informed services.
Access to Justice for Trafficking Survivors: A range of civil and criminal justice remedies must be available for victims under the law.
Tools for a Victim-Centered Criminal Justice Response: Criminal justice procedures for the benefit and protection of victim-witnesses must be provided under the law.
Prevention and Training: To help prevent trafficking and promote just responses to child sex trafficking victims, training must be required by law for child welfare, juvenile justice, law enforcement, prosecutors and school personnel, and prevention education required for students.

To stay up to date on this exciting project, sign up here to guarantee the Report Cards on Child and Youth Sex Trafficking will be delivered directly to you.

ABOUT SHARED HOPE INTERNATIONAL

MEDIA CONTACT: Mark Porter, Senior Director of Creative Strategies for Shared Hope International, mark@sharedhope.org, 202-963-2601 x408.

November 4, 2020 by Christine Raino

After 10 Years, We Are Changing How We Grade States

Ten years ago, when Shared Hope developed the nation’s first legal framework to comprehensively analyze state laws addressing the crime of child sex trafficking, our field research on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking had indicated that there were fundamental gaps that needed to be addressed in states’ laws. That was confirmed when we launched the inaugural Protected Innocence Challenge Report Cards in 2011 and the majority of states received an “F” grade. At that point many states’ laws failed to even recognize the crime of child sex trafficking. Over the last 10 years, we have been working to lay the foundation for transformational policy, practice, and cultural change by supporting state legislators and stakeholders to enact the minimum fabric of laws needed to address this heinous crime. Now, 10 years later, no state receives an “F” grade and a majority of the country receives an “A” or “B” on their report card. The Protected Innocence Challenge project was our vision for mobilizing collective state action to ensure national change. Ten years of grassroots mobilization, advocacy, technical assistance, and consistent collaboration has allowed this vision to become reality. All states now have a child sex trafficking law and, collectively, the country has made exciting progress to provide imperative protections and access to specialized services for child survivors.

However, 10 years has also led to new research and opportunities to listen to survivors, providing waves of information that require us to confront where we are and where we should be going. What we have heard, and responded to, is a call to raise the bar for states…to build on the foundation of progress by further improving protections for child sex trafficking victims. On November 18th, we will release an advanced legislative framework for the Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking, which will be the basis for new state grades beginning in the fall of 2021. This advanced framework will build on the original framework, preserving the most fundamental components while including new policy priorities that reflect feedback and research from the field.

One noteworthy change that reflects cultural and legislative transformations is the advanced framework’s shift in focus; in 2011, 75% of the framework focused on criminalizing trafficking offenders, including traffickers, buyers, and facilitators, with the remaining 25% focused on victim protections laws. Recognizing that most states have enacted the keystone statutes – the basic laws necessary for criminalizing offenders – the framework’s focus will shift to focus on the area where the largest gaps remain – victim protections. Under the advanced framework for the Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking, 75% of the policies will address critical victim protections, including access to specialized services, non-criminal responses to survivors, and avenues to comprehensive care and justice – with the remaining 25% focused on criminal accountability for offenders, and victim-centered tools for law enforcement and prosecutors.

Additionally, this advanced framework will offer extra credit opportunities for state laws that recognize the intersection of child sex trafficking and labor trafficking as well as the impact on youth and young adults. These advancements in the framework are the product of years of input from the field and the expertise of survivors, as well as Shared Hope’s own research and advocacy. We are truly grateful for the collaboration of our state partners over the years, and highly value the incredible work that state advocates have done to help us build this foundation of laws! We are confident that, together, we can better protect those exploited through trafficking and continue working towards true prevention of this crime.

We invite you to attend the release of the advanced legislative framework for the Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking on November 18 at 1:30pm EDT. You can also sign up here to receive the new report and advanced legislative framework as soon as it’s available on 11/18!

Additionally, to support implementation of the advanced framework for Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking, our team will remain available to provide rapid, technical assistance to support legislators, advocates, and state agencies; technical assistance requests can be submitted here.

We are thrilled to be starting this next chapter in advancing state laws and we hope you can join us in this effort!