John,

Imagine the sound of shackled feet, shuffling across the floor. Whose feet are they?
 
Maybe you envision an inmate being led down a prison hallway. Or a weary defendant walking into a courtroom to face a judge and jury.
 
But no. It’s a 10-year-old girl — arrested, shackled, charged for a ghastly crime committed against her.
 
How does that make you feel?
 
Atlanta Juvenile Court judge, Nina R. Hickson, can tell you firsthand. She was seeing more and more girls — some as young as 10, average age: 14 entering her court in shackles, charged as “prostitutes.” All races, all backgrounds. All brought to Atlanta by pimps to meet a multi-million-dollar demand.
 
Judge Hickson knew this needed to change — but there were no protective laws on the books.
 
Meanwhile, the Director of Program Development for Fulton County Juvenile Court, Deborah Richardson, was helping children and families connect with social services during the court process....
 
There, she saw a little girl timidly enter the courtroom in shackles — her hair messy, her eyes downcast — utterly alone. Charged with “curfew violation.”
 
Why? Because a 42-year-old man had rented her from a pimp for two hours of sex, and they were found at a public park, in the back seat of his van.
 
Deborah was horrified. But Judge Hickson had even worse news for her:
 
“I see 20 to 30 kids just like that girl being brought through my courtroom every week.”
 
The two women determined to take action … and write their own chapter in the fight against sex trafficking:

• They connected with Commissioner Nancy Boxill to mobilize the women of their community. Mothers, daughters, and sisters all united to fight child sex trafficking.
   
• Together, they came up with a three-pronged strategy: educate the community, establish a safe place to help victims, and push for changes in the law.
   
• In less than two years, Georgia passed new legislation making it a felony to pay to have sex with a child. The women raised $1 million to open Angela’s House, a shelter for under-age victims of trafficking.
   
• They also inspired training for law enforcement and government groups, to change mindsets — so children would be seen as victims, not criminals.

And they inspired me.
 
I was determined to write my own new chapter in the story of the anti-trafficking movement. The entire country needs this kind of change, and it needs people to make it happen.
 
Thanks to friends like you, Shared Hope has just taken one of our biggest steps ever — by establishing the Shared Hope Institute for Justice and Advocacy: “mission control” for all of our prevent, restore, and bring justice initiatives.
 
This headquarters facility will help write the next chapter for Shared Hope as a leader in this effort.
 
Because there is still more to be done....
 
More than a third of the states still put children in shackles for crimes related to their victimization.
 
Today, I boldly urge you to help write the next chapter in the history of this movement, to eradicate the criminalization of child trafficking victims once and for all. Your donation today will help protect children from the traps predators lay —

• You’ll help us share our brand-new Internet Safety Guide, our new educational video series for parents, our Chosen prevention film and resource package, and more.
   
• You’ll help us host the JuST (Juvenile Sex Trafficking) Conference, the nation’s leading training event.
   
• You’ll help produce our Protected Innocence Challenge report card outreach — which has already made a massive impact in all 50 states and D.C.

We’re going to need $110,000 in the next 60 days to accomplish all this and more. Every gift, large or small — whether $100, $50, $30 — is vitally important. I simply ask you to stand with us as you are able.
 
With my thanks for your generous support, you’ll get a copy of my book Invading the Darkness, which highlights actionable ways you can write your own chapter in the history of the fight to stop sex trafficking of children.
 
Your generosity today will keep us in the trenches, saving lives, restoring the broken ones … and keeping children out of the shackles. Thank you!
 
Linda Smith
Founder and President
Shared Hope International
 
P.S. What will your chapter say? You decide. You can make your mark on our world today by giving to fight child sex trafficking. (And receiving, with my thanks, practical ideas to fight effectively!) Thank you again for your compassion and generosity.