By: Cambria Findley-Grubb
Fall Intern 2011
During the past year, Shared Hope International has dedicated most of its resources to a daring initiative that promises to change the legal landscape addressing sex trafficking of American children, called the Protected Innocence Initiative. On December 1, 2011, Shared Hope International released the Protected Innocence Initiative in San Antonio, Texas. We were honored to host a week of events that paralleled the National Association of Attorneys General Winter Meeting.
This Protected Innocence Challenge begins with a comprehensive analysis of the laws in each state in order to issue a report card on the laws that respond to domestic minor sex trafficking, along with recommendations to repair the gaps that allow the sex trafficking of American children to persist in every state in the nation. The following events were designed to inform legislators, award leadership, and mobilize activists.
On November 30, Shared Hope International hosted the Pathbreaker award reception. The Pathbreaker Award was initiated in 2003 as recognition for pioneering individuals in government and civil society who fought for laws and response systems in countries identified as lagging behind in addressing trafficking in persons by the U.S. Department of State. Since then, Shared Hope has brought the Pathbreaker Award to the United States by enlisting the assistance of service providers, activists and concerned citizens across the country to nominate attorneys general who have acted to provide a comprehensive legal framework to prevent domestic minor sex trafficking and provide access to justice for those children exploited through the commercial sex industry.
This year, Shared Hope International was proud to honor Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna, Texas General Greg Abbott, and Massachusetts General Martha Coakley with the Pathbreaker Award for their leadership on this issue.
On December 1, Shared Hope International hosted a press conference to officially release the Protected Innocence Challenge Report to the public. We were joined by experts and leaders in the field including Linda Smith, Founder and President of Shared Hope International; Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna; Dr. Bob Sanborn, President and CEO, Children at Risk; Amy O'Neill Richard, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, U.S. Department of State; Holly Smith, Domestic minor sex trafficking Survivor and Advocate; and Shamere McKenzie, Sex trafficking Survivor and Advocate. The San Antonio Express, WOAI-NBC, KSAT, FOX, KSAT-ABC, KENS-CBS, Univision, and the San Antonio Current are among the media outlets that attended the press conference.
Following the press conference, Shared Hope hosted a six-member panel in a national webcast to discuss the findings of the Protected Innocence Challenge and provide state legislators and activists with the knowledge and tools they need to take action in their state. The webcast included renowned speakers such as Amy O’Neil Richard of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons in the State Department and Drew Oosterbaan of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in the Department of Justice, as well as Rep. Randy Weber of the Texas House of Representatives. Each of the six categories of the Protected Innocence Initiative were represented by a panelist. Alicia Wilson, Policy Council of Shared Hope International, started off the panel by speaking on the criminalization of domestic minor sex trafficking. Kaffie McCullough of A Future. Not a Past. spoke on the importance of criminal provisions for demand and prosecutions for buyers of sex from children. Dawn Lew of Children at Risk gave testimony regarding the importance of criminal provisions for traffickers that were in line with, if not more strict, than the federal Trafficking Victims Protection and Reauthorization Act. Samantha Vardaman, Senior Director of Shared Hope International, discussed the importance of criminal provisions for facilitators, including asset forfeiture of those who benefit financially from human trafficking as well as travel agencies, taxi companies, and hotels who support the industry. Suzanna Tiapula of the National District Attorney’s Association gave passionate testimony on protective provisions for child victims focusing specifically on the Index Children of Hawaii. Tiapula remarked she could not even speak on provisions for child victims until, as a nation, we decided that “these are victims” and they are a priority. Sgt. Chris Burchell of Texas Anti-Trafficking in Persons concluded the panel with a discussion on the importance of criminal justice tools for investigation. Sgt. Burchell gave personal antidotes regarding his time with the sheriff’s office and the critical need for tools such as wiretapping. The panel closed with remarks by Linda Smith, the President and Founder of Shared Hope International.
The 90-minute panel provided a fruitful and passionate discussion on the growing problem of domestic minor sex trafficking and the steps that must be taken to solve it.
We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to the leaders and activists who paved the way for the Protected Innocence Challenge and the success of each event. Please visit us online to download your state Report Card and begin mobilizing change in YOUR community!