For Immediate Release
July 19, 2007
Contact: Karrie Delaney
Director of Communications
Tel: 703.351.8062
Karrie@sharedhope.org
Shared Hope International
Launches Public Awareness
Effort to Combat Sex Trafficking
of Minors in America: Ground-Breaking
New Video and Educational
Materials Available
Washington,
D.C. (July 19, 2007) – Shared
Hope International, a leader
in the worldwide effort
to prevent and eradicate
sex trafficking, is distributing
a ground-breaking new video
featuring never before
seen footage of child sex
trafficking in the United
States.
Through extensive undercover
research and on-camera
interviews with pimps,
sex trafficking survivors,
members of law enforcement
and social service providers,
the video Domestic
Minor Sex Trafficking:
How to
Identify America’s
Trafficked Youth provides
an in-depth look at the
buying and selling of America’s
children.
In 2005, the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act
(TVPA) was reauthorized
with amendments identifying
all minors under the age
of 18 as sex trafficking
victims when engaged in
a commercial sex act such
as prostitution and pornography.
“The best data suggests
that at least 100,000 American
kids a year are victimized
through the practice of
child prostitution,” said
Ernie Allen, President
and CEO of The National
Center for Missing and
Exploited Children. “These
kids literally become 21st
century slaves.”
Other research has shown
up to 300,000 American
children are at-risk of
being exploited through
the commercial sex industry
in the U.S. every year.
The average age of coercion
and recruitment into prostitution
is 12 and some victims
report being forced to
service 10 to 15 buyers
each night.
“To a trafficker,
a child is low-risk, high-profit
and easy to move about,” said
Linda Smith, founder and
President of Shared Hope
International.
To combat this crisis,
Shared Hope International
(SHI) is distributing their
ground-breaking new video
and other educational materials
to first responders across
the nation including Department
of Justice (DOJ) and Federal
Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) task forces, social
service providers, and
juvenile detention facilities.
The goal of these materials
is to provide a baseline
understanding of domestic
minor sex trafficking,
redefine “child prostitutes” as
trafficking victims, improve
prosecution of traffickers,
and increase victim identification
and access to protective
and restorative services.
SHI is pleased to provide:
