Shared Hope International: Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking Project

Shared Hope International announced today they will publicly release The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking at a Congressional Briefing tomorrow, July 21, 2009.

Below are the contents of the email I received:

Dear Aaron and Bonnie:

Shared Hope International is headed to Capitol Hill and we want you to join us!

A Congressional Briefing: American Child Sex Slaves Are Being Arrested, not Rescued

American children are being sold for sex to American men in the hundreds of thousands every single day. This is child sex trafficking - the victimization of a child through prostitution, pornography or sexual entertainment. Some in our government know this is happening in startling numbers and have been working to fight the crime at a prosecutorial level, a legislative level and a prevention level. But much more needs to be done. As Shared Hope International works to bring awareness to the public across the United States, the cry for action will be heard by constituents of every city, county and state - be part of the cry for action to your legislators.


Shared Hope International will publicly release The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking: America's Prostituted Children on July 21, 2009, at a Congressional Human Trafficking Briefing sponsored by the Caucus on Victims' Rights and the Caucus on Human Trafficking. Shared Hope International has researched the scope of child sex trafficking in America and the responses to this crime by those who come into contact with the victims with support from the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Justice. Reports assessing this victimization in eleven site locations across America have been written and posted on our website: www.sharedhope.org.


The findings and recommendations from Shared Hope International's National Report will be revealed at the Briefing on July 21, as we stand together with the U.S. Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of and Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit, U.S. Ambassador Louis C de Baca of the U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and Polaris Project to discuss what is being done and what can be done to help the fight against child sex trafficking in America. We need your help!Every Congressman was hand-delivered a copy of the National Report today. Call your Congressman and encourage them to read the report and request that he/she attend the Briefing on Tuesday. You can find the contact information for your representatives and senators at: www.congress.org - simply enter your zip code and choose the "contact" tab for their information. Help us make this a priority for them!


Key Points for your call to Congress:

The Report confirms that hundreds of thousands of American children are being sold in prostitution every year from every state, including yours.

American child sex trafficking victims are being arrested and detained rather than treated as a victim. This must stop! American child sex trafficking victims deserve the same rights and services as foreign victims of human trafficking.

Traffickers and buyers of children deserve harsher sentances. Often the child is arrested while the abusers walk free. Demand that American children exploited through commercial sex be viewed as victims worthy of rescue and justice.

Be A part of History!

Also, we extend a warm welcome for all to attend the Briefing! Stand by our side as we present the reality on child sexual slavery in America.

Schedule for Tuesday:
Congressional Human Trafficking Briefing July 21, 2009
10am-Noon

Rayburn 2226

Audience: Hill Staff, Advocacy Groups

10:00-10:30am Ambassador Louis CdeBaca, State Department, TIP: Overview of 2009 TIP Report

10:30-10:50am DOJ Panel Discussion

*Andrew Oosterban, Criminal Division, Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS)

*Robert Moosey, Civil Rights Division, Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit

10:50-11:00am Q&A

11:00-11:45am NGO Panel Discussion on Domestic Trafficking
*Former Congresswoman Linda Smith, Shared Hope International

*Ernie Allen, President and CEO, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
*Brad Myles, Deputy Director, Polaris Project

11:45-noon Q&A ****************************************************************

I hope to see you there!!

Sincerely,

Linda Smith
Founder and PresidentShared Hope International

You have NO idea how I wish I lived closer to Washington, DC!

Proverbs 31:8-9