Shared Hope International

DOMESTIC PUBLIC EDUCATIONEvery victimized and vulnerable person deserves to be surrounded by an alert community, to have access to trained professionals, to be supported by strong laws and policies and to be offered shelter and service options. Shared Hope International (SHI or Shared Hope) strives to inspire a nation of informed activists to combat societal norms, misconceptions, and ignorance through awareness initiatives, training conferences, research, advocacy and collaborations and to equip stakeholders to restore and bring justice for survivors through the following programs:AMBASSADORS OF HOPE -- In FY2023, Shared Hope launched a school prevention tool: Chosen. Stop Predators. with distinct packages for private/parochial, public and home school audiences. SHI finds people of faith in all three of these arenas and is building momentum due to generous donors, who made it possible to release these packages at no cost.In FY2023, Shared Hope had 1,339 active Ambassadors with 34 new Ambassadors coming on-board. These Ambassadors showed tremendous passion in their communities hosting more than thirty-six events with more than 2,664 in their audiences, including many junior and senior high school students.FAITH in ACTION -- Shared Hope International is an ally of churches as a Christian non-profit that has led the fight against sex trafficking for nearly twenty-five years. Shared Hope's dedication to protecting children is a light in the darkness of this increasingly sexualized culture that permeates the Church, right along with the rest of society. While training and education is readily available in the secular world, Shared Hope developed tools and resources to support the faith community to protect its boys and girls. SHI believes the Church must be part of the answer. SHIs primary goal is to teach congregations how to protect the youth in their churches, and to simplify the message to equip them to protect their community. SHI offered six Faith in Action webinars in 2022, hosted by several survivor leaders as well as experts in the field. In 2023, with its relationship with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS), Shared Hope mobilized 100+ Faith in Action Kits to benefit local faith communities. Shared Hope added supplemental materials to these DFPS kits and engaged in quarterly meetings with leadership staff to support their efforts in training their local churches.Shared Hope maintains a list of 1,108 churches that its staff communicates with on various levels, including 250 churches located in SHIs home office state of Washington, where its founder has resided for more than fifty years.DEFENDERS, USA -- The Defenders Take the Pledge Campaign launched in 2002 as a national men's awareness and action campaign. Currently, 5,406 Defenders (with seventy-five added in 2022 and twenty-three added in 2023) have taken the pledge and committed to take action in the fight against the commercial sex industry. Defenders reach into their communities to help men understand what trafficking is, what fuels it, and how they can be the force that reduces the demand for commercial sex.JuST (JUVENILE SEX TRAFFICKING) CONFERENCE - Shared Hope's annual JuST conference draws more than 1,000 attendees from across the nation and abroad to learn more about child and youth sex trafficking, cutting-edge developments and approaches to combating and responding to the crime and to networking for more effective and efficient responses. The 2022 conference took place in Washington DC bringing together nearly 1,200 attendees from forty-eight states and Canada. The conference included sixty-eight workshops presented by and for stakeholders from diverse disciplines and experiences.SHARED HOPE ONLINE TRAINING CENTER - Launched in 2017, the Online Training Center houses a range of training opportunities for general interest to front line professionals. The types of trainings offered include free recorded training webinars, e-learning subscription style trainings, and by-request in-person and/or virtual presentations. During FY2023, SHI launched three (3) e-Learning trainings for a variety of stakeholders: (1) Exploited: Understanding Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking which offers a comprehensive understanding of domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) to include information from victims, traffickers, common tactics, and online exploitation, as well as appropriate responses; (2) Respond: Treating Human Trafficking in the Field which also offers a comprehensive understanding of DMST and includes informed guidance on how service providers and first responders can play a role in identifying and responding to victims and survivors and aid in prevention; this course is designed for any health care provider, social worker, counselor, or other service provider who may interact directly with survivors; and (3) VOI: Victim Offender Intersectionality which is designed for those working in the criminal legal system or anyone who wants to learn more about the complexity of victim-offender intersectionality (VOI), the occurrence of sex trafficking survivors facing criminalization under sex trafficking laws; covers the legal implications of VOI using case studies and expert field guidance to provide concrete recommendations for criminal justice stakeholders to make legal processes more victim-centered and trauma informed. In FY2023, SHI received 309 webinar registrations and conducted ten in-person presentations by request.JuST RESPONSE COUNCIL -- To ground the research in practice and thought leadership, Shared Hope formed the JuST Response Council. Over thirty anti-trafficking stakeholders ranging from child welfare to law enforcement to service delivery providers from across the nation give their time and experience to Shared Hope to convene, train, publish industry leading position papers and provide thought leadership for the coming challenges in fighting child and youth sex trafficking. Shared Hope convenes the JuST Response Council 3-4 times per year. During FY2022, the Council began work on new research that will provide the foundation for shaping state and localities service responses to child and youth trafficking survivors. The Roadmap Report, developed in collaboration with the Just Response Council over the past two years, will provide states and localities with a roadmap for implementing the ten key principles of a just response (set out in the Just Response Council's Protective Response Model report, 2016). The Roadmap Report will include decision trees that help stakeholders walk through an ideal response and identify strategies for addressing gaps in their jurisdiction's current response. These decision trees have the potential to be later developed into interactive tools through an online platform. The project is currently in the stakeholder vetting process, including input from youth advisory groups to ensure it aligns with the realities of on the ground implementation and the impact on young people, for whom improved responses are being developed.STATE LAWS -- The Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking: State Action, National Change project grades the states and provides comprehensive analyses for each state of their laws and recommended improvements and additions designed to ensure a protective, victim-centered service and system response. In November 2021, SHI released the inaugural Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking. As the first report cards to grade states under the Advanced Legislative Framework, only a few states achieved passing grades as the focus of the new framework shifted from criminal justice responses, where states had made broad improvements, to victim protections where improvement in states laws has lagged behind. SHIs policy team continues to provide assistance with legislative drafting and advocacy to support survivor-centered legal reforms and to improve state grades under the Advanced Legislation Framework. Since the release of the inaugural Report Cards on Child & Youth Sex Trafficking in 2021, states have continued to improve their grades and tackle the challenging reforms set out in the Advanced Legislative Framework, which was released in 2020. Progress has been made in many states, including one state achieving the first "A" grade, another state achieving a "B" grade, and an overall decrease in the number of failing states. To help states continue improving their laws and advance survivor-centered legal reforms, SHIs policy team provides assistance with legislative drafting and advocacy in alignment with the Advanced Legislation Framework.SHARED HOPE ACTION CENTER -- Engaged citizens are essential as Shared Hope supports legislators in drafting and passing laws that both protect victims of juvenile sex trafficking and hold offenders accountable. Shared Hope's Action Center offers individuals a chance to be engaged in a range of campaigns, from advocating for a specific bill to advocating for e

DOMESTIC PARTNERSShared Hope International (SHI) partners with organizations providing services to domestic trafficking victims across the country. Guided by principles garnered from over a decade of research and partnerships with international and local partners, SHI provides small grants to support emerging trends in service delivery and build an array of service options to provide tailored, trauma - informed services to survivors. During FY2023, SHI provided grants to twelve domestic nonprofit organizations. The following are a few of the programs receiving support:ARKANSAS The nonprofit, The Genesis Project, provides individualized services to survivors of human trafficking and equipping the organizations who serve them. SHIs grant funds provided salary support for the Founder/CEO, provided Survivor scholarships for the JuST Conference and provided funds to cover travel costs to the conference and grantee site visits. In FY2023, forty-five staff attended the JuST conference from The Genesis Project.ARKANSAS The nonprofit, Into the Light, provides refuge and restoration for minor survivors of sexual exploitation and provides awareness and education on the issue of human trafficking. SHIs grant funds enabled Into the Light to add a bilingual case manager to their team to provide case management services to more efficiently help victims. SHIs funding also assisted in the hiring of a bilingual caseworker. During FY2023, twenty-four children were provided case management services.COLORADO The nonprofit, Sarahs Home, is a faith-based residential home for girls age 12-18 who have been rescued from sex trafficking. Sarahs Home offers healing, education, restoration and reintegration for survivors. SHIs grant funds provided support for staff salaries, including the salary of the Primary Care Giver Role, and provided funds for attendance at Shared Hopes JuST Conference. During FY2023, Sarahs Home served thirty-five children.OHIO The nonprofit, STARS, offers survivors a chance to connect with Christian faith-based organizations; three of the four locations that STARS operates from are based out of churches. This provides survivors with opportunities for spiritual growth if they choose it along with other resources to help in their healing. During FY2023, their outreach program served 158 individuals while there were 325 hotline calls received and 48 served through their VIBE program.

INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSShared Hope International (SHI) has worked around the world since 1998 to prevent, restore and bring justice for victims of sex trafficking. Recognizing the intense trauma experienced by victims through the commercial sex industry, SHI has formed lasting partnerships with local organizations in three countries to fund five programs that offer holistic, long-term care to women and children. Each of these programs offer a survivor-informed model of care that focuses on counseling, empowerment, and healing. Villages of Hope, SHI's restoration programs are developed and operated by local partners, addressing both immediate and long-term needs of each victim of trauma, exploitation, or trafficking. Restoration services include a holistic approach with residential facilities, medical and mental health care, education, job training, and economic development programs. Villages of Hope are safe communities that offer refuge and restoration to rescued victims of sexual slavery and their children. During FY2023, SHI funded partners in Nepal, India, and Jamaica.In India, SHI partners with an organization to run both a stationary and mobile HIV/Aids clinic in the heart of Mumbai's red-light district. Both clinics provide contact to more than 3,000 women and children in the infamous district every month, offering compassion, counseling, and life-saving medications to those who need help or who wish to flee the sex industry. The stationary clinic provides a haven for those women infected with HIV to receive proper testing, medicine, and nutrition. It is the only area clinic offering free assistance for treatment. The mobile clinic brings supplies and food into remote parts of the city, reaching those who may not be bold enough to visit the stationary clinic.The Women's Investment Network (WIN) program focuses on developing small businesses around the world that provide training and employment for the women in SHI's Villages of Hope. Studies show that providing victims with the skills and means of creating their own economic sustainability helps remove the risk of re-victimization found in areas of extreme poverty and exploitation. The residents receive leadership development and financial independence. During 2023, SHI's successful WIN program was active in India, Jamaica and Nepal. Training programs include sewing, jewelry, leather-making, bag-weaving, painting, henna designing, and embroidery.