For over 21 years, Shared Hope International has been dedicated to preventing the conditions that foster child sex trafficking, restoring and empowering survivors, bringing justice to vulnerable youth, and spreading the truth about domestic minor sex trafficking.
Over the past few months, Shared Hope has received dozens of inquiries questioning the validity of various conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, many of these theories are unsubstantiated and can distract from the fight against child sex trafficking. That being said, we have observed the recent emergence of a very real threat to our nation’s sexually exploited children: a mass spread of misinformation.
Although we have been extremely encouraged by the recent substantial increase in online and in-person advocacy for sexually exploited youth, we have also observed that there is a troubling amount of false information being rapidly spread by well-meaning, impassioned individuals. Unfortunately, no matter how well-intentioned, this spread of misinformation is proving to be hurtful to the anti-trafficking movement...
We want to make it clear that although we believe many of these conspiracies to be false, child sex trafficking is a very real crime that exploits countless victims each year in the United States. Still, it is not our intention to shame anyone who has unintentionally spread misinformation, but to invite these passionate members of the public to join Shared Hope International in the fight to end child sex trafficking.
Every action matters and the more people who know the signs of trafficking, the smaller the world becomes for those who buy and sell our children. You can learn more about how to take effective action here.
