Shared Hope International

Causes: Human Services

Mission: Shared hope international exists to rescue and restore women and children in crisis. We are leaders in a worldwide effort to prevent and eradicate sex trafficking and slavery through education and public awareness.

Programs: Domestic public educationevery victimized and vulnerable person deserves to be surrounded by an alert community, trained professionals, strong laws and policies, and shelter and service options. Shared hope international (shi) strives to inspire a nation of informed activists to combat societal norms, misconceptions, and ignorance through the following awareness initiatives, training conferences, research, advocacy and collaboration:ambassadors of hope -- shared hope international's ambassadors of hope are everyday advocates looking for a way to impact their community and the movement to end sex trafficking. The vision statement for this program is the more people who know, the smaller the world becomes for those who buy and sell our children. Ambassadors of hope serve as volunteers for shared hope in order to help expand the organization's impact around the nation. Approximately 775 individuals actively served as ambassadors of hope during the year ended june 30, 2017. Chosen -- this film series is designed to teach teens the warning signs and indicators of trafficking through the true stories of teenage girls who were tricked by traffickers. Brianna, lacy and maria discuss how modern american pimps and gangs are luring youth into the commercial sex industry and how teens can protect themselves and others from being chosen. The resource packages includes additional educational tools to further discussion, learning and action! Defenders -- the defenders take the pledge campaign, launched on father's day 2006, is a national mens awareness and action campaign. The campaign aims to mobilize an army of 100,000 defenders to protect and defend exploited women and children. Defenders are men of all ages who take a pledge and take action to fight against the commercial sex industry. Thousands of men across the nation have already banded together to help prevent and stop prostitution, pornography, and exploitation in all its forms. 2016 just (juvinile sex trafficking) conference - the conference was held in november 2016 and included over 750 guests for three days of education, collaboration and networking of law enforcers, service and shelter providers, survivors and community members learning how to accurately identify victims of sex trafficking and respond effectively. Nearly 70 survivors of sex trafficking participated and many received scholarships to attend. The just response council released a peer-endorsed publication settling the definition of dmst and the position of non-criminalization of minors. State laws -- in november 2016, shi released the protected innocence challenge report cards for year six at the national foundation for women legislators conference in florida. More than half of the states have raised their grade above a "b" since the beginning of the challenge in 2011. Just response -- just response is a project of the national restoration initiative and the protected innocence challenge that brings together shared hopes research on services for domestic minor sex trafficking victims with its analysis of state statutory protective responses. By merging research on implementation and policy analysis, just response seeks to broaden the research in this emerging area to inform legislative efforts and the implementation of existing responses. Ending online facilitation -- child sex trafficking in the us is increasingly moving onto the internet. Online classifieds like backpage. Com are now a primary venue for traffickers to sell sex with minors and for buyers to purchase sex with these children. Online classifieds that advertise commercial sex acts provide anonymity and accessibility to individuals looking for commercial sex and the victims are very often trafficked youth. Shared hope international has joined policy, faith and ngo leaders in national advocacy efforts to hold online classifieds liable for their role in facilitating sex trafficking through advertising. Stop the injustice campaign -- contrary to common belief, child sex trafficking is not an issue reserved for faraway places and third world countries. Thousands of children are bought and sold for sex in the u. S. Every day. Shi and others are concerned with ending trafficking. The issue is complex, but shared hopes research has shown that change begins when we as citizens advocate for laws that effectively address child sex trafficking. 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. Policy research and resources -- shared hope international proactively supports the legislative, law enforcement, and social services communities with timely and effective reports, studies, surveys and exemplary legislation aimed at eradicating human trafficking. Combating demand -- the demanding justice project is a research and advocacy initiative designed to promote demand deterrence through increased attention and advocacy on demand enforcement. The research report documents the outcomes of federal and state arrests, charges and prosecutions of buyers of sex acts with children. The findings of this research will inform advocacy efforts to strengthen anti-demand legislation and enforcement.

international partnersshared hope international (shi) has worked around the world since 1998 to rescue and restore victims of sexual slavery. 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 offers 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 fy2017, shi funded partners in nepal, india, and jamaica. Village of hope, pune -- in july 2016, shi provided the funds to purchase three acres of land outside of pune, india as a location for a permanent home for sparsh, shi's partner in that city. During fy2017, grants were paid to begin the building construction.

domestic partnersshared hope international partners with organizations providing services to domestic trafficking victims across the country. Guided by principles garnered through over a decade of research and partnerships with international and local partners, shi provides small grants to support emerging trends in service delivery, building upon the goal of our national restoration initiative to build an array of service options to provide tailored, trauma-informed services to survivors. During fy2017, shared hope provided grants to five domestic nonprofit organizations.