OLYMPIA, Wash. — Shared Hope International is taking on a new challenge. Last month, the Washington-based nonprofit began a campaign focusing on child sex trafficking survivors who have been criminally prosecuted.
"Across the country and for many years, victims of child sex trafficking have been sentenced to jail for crimes they were caused to commit by the trafficker," according to the nonprofit's website. "Rather than being identified as a victim and given care, they are identified as criminals, adding to their trauma.”
On Friday in Olympia, on the senate floor is where Shared Hope International’s founder Linda Smith received praise and a resolution honoring her efforts to end child sex trafficking. It's the work she started with a team of supporters 25 years ago when she was a lawmaker in Washington state.
"This one got my heart, and that really got my attention,” said Smith.
Through Shared Hope International, she met Yvonne Hubbell.
"I got tried as an adult and put in an adult prison,” said Hubbell, who was arrested when she was a teenager.
Her story goes back to when she was 7 years old. She said that is when her stepfather began grooming her for trafficking. Her home life became worse. By age 16, she had a mugshot because of an incident in 1997. She remembers walking on a rainy night in Kitsap County when an 81-year-old man approached her.
"He offered to give me a ride and I thought he was safe until we got on the freeway. He was pulling on my clothes asking me to do things for him,” said Hubbell.
She said he took her to his home and began punching and pushing her. She grabbed a knife that she carried for protection. He backed off, and agreed to drive her back to where he first met her. But she said in the car, there was more violence.
“He slapped me and that is when I had the knife right there. I just went straight out. I wasn’t aiming for anything,” Hubbell explained.
She stabbed him. He eventually died at the hospital.
"I was looking at 26 to 36 years in prison for murder, and I ended up pleading to five years for manslaughter,” said Hubbell.
After serving her time, she spiraled because she said she did not have a support system. Eventually, she found help — and Shared Hope International. It's where she has worked for more than a decade as an advocate for trafficking survivors.
"It is amazing to come alongside and be with Linda Smith and fight the good fight for victims to be overcomers,” said Hubbell.
“Now we drafted tougher laws to make sure that we have our court systems and child protective services systems treat these victims of crime as victims, not criminals,” said Smith.
Shared Hope International is calling on governors to take action to end the ongoing injustice these young survivors face, the nonprofit’s website reads.
Smith wants governors in every state to look at their prison and parole populations to identify the cases where individuals who were victims of sex trafficking as children have been prosecuted and convicted. In a letter to governors, the nonprofit is calling for those cases to get another look.