Shared Hope and the Protected Innocence Challenge

Post by: Amanda Lopez

My name is Amanda Lopez and I am a 3L serving as a law clerk for the Center for Global Justice. I have had the privilege of working with Shared Hope for two years now and I am once again leading its project on behalf of the Center. Thi

s semester we are conducting statutory research for each state and the District of Columbia to identify training requirements for those professions who would likely interact with human trafficking victims. Specifically, we are researching whether states require child sex trafficking-specific training for those professions.

It has been such a blessing to lead another team on a Shared Hope project and to see how rewarding it is for the staff members to be working on a project that is having an impact on state legislation. The information we provide directly supports Shared Hope and its Protected Innocence Challenge (PIC), which grades each state and the District of Columbia on the strength of its child sex trafficking laws and provides suggestions for improvements.

Not all states require human trafficking-specific training, let alone child sex trafficking, for professions such as law enforcement that critically needs such training. However, other states have human trafficking-specific training for such professions as innkeepers and CDL drivers, professions that may interact with such victims and be able to offer assistance if the victimization can be recognized. Hopefully our research may be helpful in continuing to make progress in this area of the fight against child sex trafficking.

This post was written by a Center for Global Justice student staff member.  The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.