- Sunday, January 26, 2014
- 3:30 PM–5:00 PM
- Covenant Fine Arts Center Auditorium
Domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST), which is the commercial sexual exploitation of children through buying, selling, or trading their sexual services, happens all over the world including the United States. At least 100,000 U.S. children are exploited in prostitution every year in America. The average age a child is first exploited is 13 years old. Linda Smith has dedicated her life to changing this story. In 1998, while serving in the U.S. Congress, Linda traveled to a notorious brothel district in India where the hopeless faces of women and children forced into prostitution compelled her to found Shared Hope International. Linda is the primary author of From Congress to the Brothel and Renting Lacy: A Story of America’s Prostituted Children.” She co-authored The National Report on Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking and the DEMAND Report. Linda has testified before Congress, presented at national and international forums, and has been published in news outlets and journals. Linda served as a Washington State legislator (1983-93) before she was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1994. Shared Hope International is dedicated to bringing an end to sex trafficking through a three-prong approach – prevention, restoration, and justice.
Sponsored by the January Series. Underwritten by Wedgwood Christian Services.
