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PROTECT Agenda
PROTECT's nonpartisan agenda takes the best ideas of tough-minded children's advocates and turns them into well-defined, winnable national and state campaigns.
We look to law enforcement, legal and medical experts, child protection professionals, and our membership to identify a pro-child, anti-crime agenda that truly makes a difference in children’s lives. We use proven modern political campaign tools to fight for children in a better, smarter way.
We don't have the staff and resources to work on all of our agenda at once, but below is our current policy agenda.
CHILD EXPLOITATION
Secure Resources To Fight Child Exploitation and Enable Child Rescue
U.S. law enforcement has identified hundreds of thousands of criminals trafficking in video and images of child sexual abuse (child pornography). A global marketplace for these images has turned children into sexual commodities, and this marketplace can only be supplied one way: through the abuse and torture of more children. At least 40% of these criminals are hands-on sexual predators, with local child victims.
For the first time in history, technology offers the opportunity to detect and stop child sexual abuse on a massive scale. By tracking the distribution of child pornography, law enforcement can go back through the Internet, right to the door of hundreds of thousands of children waiting for rescue. Yet less than 1% of known child exploitation suspects are even being investigated, due to an outrageous lack of resources. Since 2006, PROTECT has fought to secure and increase resources to combat child exploitation.
CIRCLE OF TRUST CRIMES
Ending Preferential Treatment for Family Predators
Over 90% of sexually abused children are victimized by adults they know, not by strangers or kidnappers. These crimes—by family members or adults in position of trust or authority—take a terrible toll on children and result in a staggering economic cost to society. Yet, most states provide lesser penalties to criminals who "grow their own victims," treating child rape as a social problem instead of a crime. Since 2002, PROTECT’s Circle of Trust Campaign has been closing these loopholes state by state to give every child equal protection under the law.
CHILDREN IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM
Legal Representation for Children
Accused murderers and rapists get legal representation, but in most states child victims are thrown into a high-states legal fight as the only party in the courtroom without competent legal support. And if they lose, they might be the only crime victims ordered to go home with their rapist. PROTECT believes there is a role for volunteer lay advocates, but never as a substitute for actual legal representation.
Demand Accountability for Prosecutorial and Judicial Practices
When they pursue crimes against children professionally and aggressively, prosecutors and judges are true heroes. Too often however, prosecutors turn away from child abuse cases they see as challenging, time-consuming and low-profile and judges fail to take crimes against children seriously. As public servants and elected officials, prosecutors and judges have a duty to give crimes against our children their utmost priority, expertise and effort.
Strengthen Child Welfare Systems
When a child cries out for help or is thrust into a terrifying and confusing social welfare and criminal justice system, our sacred obligation is to provide that child with well-trained, competent help. PROTECT believes in aggressive recruitment of child protection professionals through student loan forgiveness programs and other incentives (such as those available to corrections officers) and national or state training academies to teach both CPS and law enforcement professionals hard investigative skills.
Guarantee Every Child Victim Access to Counseling and Medical Care
Everyday, children who have been hurt and traumatized are forced to suffer further at the hands of government bureaucracies, often being denied the care they desperately need. Every child victim or alleged victim should have immediate and full access to mental health services and medical care, without undue delay, restriction or red tape.
SAFEGUARD COMMUNITIES
Lifetime or Long-Term Intensive Supervision
Sex offender registries provide only symbolic or marginal protection to communities, and research shows that treatment programs simply cannot "cure" child sexual offenders. If and when they are released from prison, these offenders should be subject to intensive parole or probation supervision for long periods of time.
Expand Background Checks
Simple statewide or national criminal background checks are not enough for those working with children. Most predators have victimized many children before they are ever caught. PROTECT encourages the use of Child Protective Services’ records and other registries, and we want to increase requirements on child-serving agencies to conduct diligent background checks.
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