Transitioning Times

Shared Hope International has recently completed a project called Protected Innocence, based on research performed by Shared Hope International and compiled in “The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking.”  This project gives grades to states for their response to domestic minor sex trafficking, as well as providing suggestions for policy changes.  The Federal  Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) has made sex trafficking of a minor a crime.   Federal law defines sex trafficking as the “recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.” When considering the crime of domestic minor sex trafficking, under the TVPA, the victim’s age is the critical issue—there is no requirement to prove that force, fraud, or coercion was used to secure the victim’s actions if the victim is a minor.  This is key because many minor sex traffickers do not need to use force or coercion.  The vi...

Message from PCAR: Representative Dan Deasy has introduced legislation (HB 1999) that would require an individual who witnesses or an individual who is told by a direct witness about a sexual crime against a child to report it to law enforcement.  Failure to report could result in a third degree felony charge (currently the failure to report is a misdemeanor). See Rep. Deasy's webpage for the news release:   http://www.pahouse.com/PR/027110911.asp

Recently, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) reintroduced a critical piece of legislation that would change this dire situation. H.R. 3151, the Domestic Violence Leave Act , updates current law to allow workers recovering from domestic abuse, sexual assault and stalking to take unpaid sick days to seek medical attention, legal assistance, and counseling during work hours. I urge you to  contact your Member of Congress to pass the Domestic Violence Leave Act today. October’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month just ended but violence against women and girls occurs every day of the year. In tough economic times, when the frequency of violence increases, victims without unpaid sick days must make a sobering choice between financial security and personal health. According to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, victims of intimate partner violence lose 8 million days of work every year- which amounts to 32,000 full-time jobs.  Please contact your Mem...

Please see this urgent message from the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape: In light of alarming statistics related to physical and emotional bullying, the Pennsylvania Senate has marked October 2011 as "Bullying Awareness Month," encouraging schools and parents to talk with youth about bullying—and in particular, cyberbullying. Often characterized as harmless by youth who don't have to interact with their peers on a face-to-face basis, cyberbullying can cause as much emotional pain and trauma as its physical counterpart. PA Senator Stewart Greenleaf (R-12) proposes to address cyberbullying through Senate Bill 850 , which would assure that youth who engage in intentionally harmful behavior toward their peers receive court intervention and that youth who are victims of cyberbullying are not criminalized, thereby sparing them from further emotional harm. Conversely, House Bill 815 —which Juvenile Law Center opposes, and which is in the Senate Judiciary Committee—c...