Dr. Sandie Morgan and Dave Stachowiak are joined by Linda Smith, Founder and President of Shared Hope International, and Christine Raino, Senior Director of Public Policy. Linda was recently appointed to the White House Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking. Christine leads the Center for Justice & Advocacy’s research and advocacy on state and federal laws pertaining to protections and services for juvenile sex trafficking victims. Together they discuss the recently released Protected Innocence Challenge Report.
Key Points

The Protected Innocence Challenge Legislative Framework recognizes that most of the faps in responding to domestic minor sex trafficking must be addressed at the state level.
Using this framework to grade states based on the strength of their laws related to the commercial sexual exploitation of children, there has been significant progress in advancing their laws in states across the country.

Resources

Shared Hope International
Protected Innocence Challenge
Internet Safety Guide
Advocacy Action Center
Invading the Darkness

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Transcript
Dave [00:00:00] You're listening to the Ending Human Trafficking podcast. This is episode number 214 - The role of Advocacy in Prevention and Protection.

Production Credits [00:00:10] Produced by Innovate Learning, Maximizing Human Potential.

Dave [00:00:30] Welcome to the Ending Human Trafficking Podcast. My name is Dave Stachowiak.

Sandie [00:00:35] And my name is Sandie Morgan.

Dave [00:00:38] And this is the show where we empower you to study the issues, be a voice, and make a difference in ending human trafficking. Sandie, glad to be back with you again today.

Sandie [00:00:48] Me too.

Dave [00:00:50] Today, an important conversation with an important leader in this space. We're really thrilled to welcome to the show today, Congresswoman Linda Smith. She is the founder and president of Shared Hope International. Linda was recently appointed to the White House Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to end human trafficking. And Sandie, you and I have talked about this the last few episodes.

Sandie [00:01:11] That's right.

Dave [00:01:12] Linda is the primary author of From Congress to the Brothel and Renting Lacey and coauthor of The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking in the Demand Report. Linda has testified before Congress presented at national and international forums and has been published in news outlets and journals. Linda served as a Washington state legislator from 1983 to 1993, before she was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1994. And she's joined today by Christine Reno. Good morning to you both.

Linda [00:01:41] Good morning.

Christine [00:01:42] Good morning.

Sandie [00:01:43] We're,, so glad to have you here. Linda, would you introduce Christine?

Linda [00:01:49] Oh, I am delighted to. Christine Reno started with Shared Hope, now, nearly 10 years ago. She came in to help boost the legal side of Shared Hope because we were going to grade every state on 41 points of law. And the first point was having a law on domestic minor sex trafficking and make sure the men that buy those kids for sex are perceived as the and actually penalized as the serious felons that they are. They're rapists of children and they should be treated that way. So, Christine has led the legal team that keeps growing here at the institute in analyzing all the 50 state laws. She, I don't know where you passed your bar, but I know you did.

Christine [00:02:37] DC in Virginia.