3 days ago
'Happening in our community': Advocates seek justice for victims, greater awareness of predatory abuse
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Pennsylvania scores very low – with a D grade – in Shared Hope International's 2023 analysis of how the state handles child and youth sex trafficking.
Its mark of 62 out of 100 is weighed down by three Fs – in identification of and response to victims, continuum of care, and prevention and training. The commonwealth's best scores are As in criminal provisions and tools for a victim-centered criminal justice response.
Even with the poor point total, a D was an improvement from 2021, when Pennsylvania received an F.
Issuing the scorecards for states is one of the ways in which Shared Hope International, a Vancouver, Washington-based nonprofit, brings attention to the issue of human trafficking.
Sidney McCoy
Sidney McCoy is director of advocacy with Shared Hope International. She holds a juris doctorate from the Penn State Law School.
Sidney McCoy, a director of advocacy and a Penn State Law School graduate, said a main mission for the organization is to help people 'understand that this is very much happening.'
'It's happening in Philadelphia the same way that it's happening in Johnstown, the same way that it's happening in State College,' McCoy said. 'It doesn't matter if it's a rural community, an urban community, a suburban community. This is happening. This is not just an issue in border states. It's not just an issue internationally. It is happening in our community.'
Former U.S. Rep. Linda Smith, a Republican from Washington, founded Shared Hope International in 1998, inspired by seeing the brutal sex slavery happening in Mumbai, India's brothel district.
SHI assists survivors, helps craft legislation, and provides training and education.
'Our mission is really dedicated to preventing, restoring and bringing justice to the victims of child sexual abuse trafficking,' McCoy said.
'Don't know the signs'
Shared Hope International is one of the numerous anti-trafficking groups working in Pennsylvania, including The Asservo Project, Greenlight Operation, Hope Inspire Love, Pennsylvania Coalition to Advance Respect, county organizations and The Villanova Law Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
Greenlight Operation, located in Cumberland County, was founded in 2018. It provides education, legislative assistance, restorative care for survivors, seminars and educational events with the mission of making people 'equipped and empowered to then get involved,' according to Jordan Pine, the nonprofit's founder and CEO.
'We're also in the process of opening our restoration home to serve survivors of human trafficking because, as education awareness grows, so do the reports,' Pine said. 'We have many survivors who are seeking services and need some help in that healing process.'
Pine referenced SHI's D grade for Pennsylvania, saying that anti-child trafficking work is 'very, very important' and that she thinks the need for improvement applies to how adult trafficking is handled, too.
'As it relates to Pennsylvania and how can we do better, No. 1, our public is still largely unaware that human trafficking is happening here,' Pine said. 'They don't know the signs to look for. And, because of that, naturally they're not going to get involved because they don't even know it's an issue they need to be involved with.'
'Scope of this problem'
Joseph Sweeney, co-founder and CEO of The Asservo Project, is a former SWAT operator, bomb squad commander, and U.S government explosive security specialist who was involved in counterterrorism. In 2017, he transitioned to the role of fighting human trafficking, forming the Allegheny County-headquartered group with his wife.
'Before we started, it wasn't a knee-jerk reaction,' Sweeney said. 'I knew what I was getting into. I knew it was a behemoth. Did I want to turn my life upside-down – and my wife's? Obviously we did. That's how it started.
"It wasn't some knee-jerk – 'Let me go get my body armor and go kick in some doors' – although I would love to do that to these people. I was born to do it. But you can't. In this environment that I'm in now, we found a better way to help. That's what we do and not be a problem.'
He was originally asked to rescue some children who had been taken illegally to South America, which led to him researching human trafficking.
'When we really uncovered the scope of this problem, I just couldn't let it go,' Sweeney said. 'I just felt compelled to do something.'
Much of the work done by Asservo members is online. It is conducted within the confines of the law, operating under private investigator licenses and sharing information with law enforcement.
'For every predator we can identify online and have arrested and convicted, that's 75 to 100 children who will not be exploited by that individual online, so that's why it's an important piece of our work,' Sweeney said. 'The physical rescues, we don't do a lot of those. Now we do support those.'
