Shield NC

Defense Against Trafficking

2023 Accomplishments and 6th Anniversary Party

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Thank you for Joining Shield NC to celebrate 6 years of Defending Against Human Trafficking! We could not have done it with you your support!  

THANK YOU!!

We are so thankful for your support! You made it possible for us to accomplish these highlights in 2023!
-After 3 years of advocating, NC Law was finally passed streamlining the restitution process for victims of child abuse material (Incorrectly known as child pornography) allowing them to get the support they need quicker and easier.
-Trained over 1025 people on Human Trafficking!
-The Service Group & Faith Alliance held 4 community meetings covering topics on familial trafficking, domestic violence and crisis counseling.
-Welcomed 1 new board member, 2 new advisors, 4 new staff members and 4 interns!
-Proclaimed January as HUMAN TRAFFICKING PREVENTION MONTH in the Town of Apex.
-Hosted the successful 2023 GALA & ONLINE AUCTION at The Evermore.
-12 monthly educational topics on social media.
-Together we celebrated SHIELD NC 6TH ANNIVERSARY
-Collaborated with Wake County Foster Care System to proclaim May as FOSTER CARE AWARENESS MONTH in the Town of Apex
-Shared awareness to parents at the APEX NIGHT OUT.
-Shield continues to co-lead the NC DEMAND REDUCTION TASK FORCE and the task force trained over 50 Chiefs of Police in NC on Human Trafficking.
-Featured in CARY MAGAZINE’S SEPTEMBER 2023 issue.
-Guests on the STUFF THAT MATTERS PODCAST, episode 15.

Shield NC is excited for what is coming in 2024.
-Continue to pioneer the effort to reduce the demand for the services of exploited persons in NC through the DEMAND REDUCTION TASK FORCE, which will be hosting a two-day Human Trafficking Prevention conference in the Spring.
-Advocate for the vulnerable through initiatives such as getting a “White Flag” program in Cary, to provide emergency shelter to the homeless when temperatures go below freezing.
-Relaunch our Community Outreach program of visiting strategic businesses to share information. We need volunteers in this program, this is a great way to VOLUNTEER and shield your community.
-Expand our training efforts to reach even more community members who want to shield their community throughout their everyday life, jobs and activities because we believe ending human trafficking relies on all of us doing our part to shield our community!
-Shield’s First GOLF TOURNAMENT ON APRIL 29! Be on the lookout for more information for teams and corporate sponsorships!
-Join us on January 9 at 6pm to proclaim January as Human Trafficking Prevention Month at the Apex Town Council meeting.
-Wear BLUE on January 11 to honor Human Trafficking Awareness Day!

2022 Year in Review

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We are so thankful for your support!  You made it possible for us to accomplish these highlights in 2022! 

--Developed 33 career & activity based trainings.
--Trained over 800 individuals.
--The Service Group & Faith Alliance held 9 community meetings covering topics on foster care, homelessness, housing insecurity and child safety.
--Collaborated with Wake County Foster Care System to share information to over 1500 home and secured the Town of Apex Proclamation declaring May Foster Care Awareness Month.  
--Co-Led the NC Demand Reduction Task Force.  The task force trained over 90 police officers in strategies for arresting individuals who purchase sex.  
--Wrote The Need for Demand Reduction white paper.
--Shield Leadership served as chair for the North Carolina Coalition Against Human Trafficking.  NC CAHT launched the first Survivors Network in NC. 
--Welcomed 4 new Board Members!
--Honored World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.
--Hosted the first Shield NC Annual Gala & Online Auction. 
--Celebrated Shield NC's 5th Anniversary.
--Created a new Shield NC video.

We are excited for what is coming in 2023.   
--We are moving toward emphasizing survivors voices in 2023 in our process and public educations to make sure Shield is using best practices for eliminating Human Trafficking.  
--Expecting our HB 598 to be passed by the NC Senate in 2023, which will give restitutions to victims of child sexual abuse material, commonly known as child pornography.  
--2023 Annual Gala & Online Auction is on May 21 at 4pm.  
--We will continue to lead the pioneering effort to reduce the demand for the services of exploited persons in NC.Developed 33 career & activity based trainings.

5th Anniversary Celebration!

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In case you missed the Anniversary Celebration, we wanted to share Shield NC's achievements in the past 5 years!  We could not have done any of this without your support and we THANK YOU!   

Empowerment
-Developed 30+ career based trainings. Trained hundreds of people  across the state on Human Trafficking, including state conferences, medical professionals, child care workers, apartment complexes, churches and civic groups.
-Used social media to dispel a number of myths and to teach accurate facts about the signs of Human Trafficking. 
-Led community outreach to hotels, trucking companies, and neighborhoods to empower them to know the signs of Human Trafficking.
-Led initiative with the Department of Justice to develop resource guides for service providers, parents and students during the pandemic.
-Hosted 19 podcasts, as well as highlight on numerous podcasts and news reports.
-Advocated for Town resolutions to bring awareness to Trafficking and vulnerable populations.

Prevention
-Founded the Service Group and Faith Alliance in partnership with Apex PD. The SGFA brings together law enforcement, town council members, ministry leaders and service groups to better shield vulnerable populations such as the those who are homeless, food insecure, battling substance and children in the foster care system.    
-Launched an online campaign with WRAL/Capitol Broadcasting to target individuals in two North Carolina counties who were searching for terms suggesting they are searching for explicit images of minors. This campaign sent out over 100,000 warnings to people who were searching for these explicit images .
-Co-founded the state’s first Demand Reduction Task Force to determine how to reduced the demand for commercialized sex and forced labor. 

Advocacy 
At the Local Level
-Successfully advocated for Apex to require all town employees be trained on Human Trafficking  identification. 
-Successfully advocated for a Resolution that passed for the Apex Purchasing Department to add a clause to all contracts to ensure that any services purchased by the town do not include Labor Trafficking. --Apex was the first in the state to do both of these. 

State
-Worked with Representative Bill Brawley to create legislation that strengthened Anti-Trafficking Law. This legislation made it possible for minors, who are trafficked, to receive aid from CPS.  Also, it changed to procedure in court that you can no longer ask about previous sexual history of rape victims.  
-Introduced legislation to ensure restitution for victims of child sexual abuse material, commonly known as child pornography.
-Successfully advocated with the State Bureau of Investigations for staffing SBI’s human trafficking unit.
-Hosted a cultural training to law enforcement and service providers which led to a change in the way operations to Asian illicit massage businesses were conducted to be more culturally competent and trauma informed.

Federal
-Advocated for a federal Executive Order for additional resources to combat Human Trafficking. Shield NC met with the President’s Assistant on Domestic Policy (for resources and restitution) as well as Legislators (for restitution for child victims of sexual abuse material).   
-Successfully advocated for more provisions for survivors and stronger Anti-Trafficking laws.