This combination of streamlining workflows and increasing successful victim identification is what has propelled Spotlight to continue to grow its user base. $120 $180 $300 Other Other. Raise your voice against slavery this December! I started by conducting a competitive and stakeholder analysis to help with the overall discovery of where we were with our current process. "Our law enforcement partners say Spotlight helps officers identify child sex-trafficking ads much faster than the old paper-and-pencil methods," says Brooke Istook, director of strategy and operations at Thorn. Viral child sexual abuse material is removed from the internet to end the cycle of trauma. I also created high-fidelity prototypes of key touchpoints on our site, whose content I validated through additional user feedback. Numbers are to date since the launch of our tool in 2014. Hear more from investigators using Spotlight on the front lines. Based on IRS CI's FY 2021 Annual Report, here are five top enforcement priorities that are likely to carry over into 2022: 1. We believe that every child has the right to be safe, to be curious, to be happy. Initially, they had about 100 users from three U.S. states who were using Spotlight for their human-trafficking investigations. How can law enforcement sift through massive amounts of data to focus their time on the most vulnerable victims? Sign in. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the SMART Office. My goal was to not only design a workshop that increased adoption but to build a tool that added value for current users through an intuitive user experience and user interface - which would then translate to more victims identified in a shorter amount of time. Finally, we were awarded the 2015 Cloudera Social Impact Award, for the work we did on Spotlight. and who do the programs serve? endobj Thorn Helps Law Enforcement Identify Child Sex-Trafficking Victims Faster on AWS Answering the Challenge Using AWS "Fighting human trafficking starts where you live. To request technical assistance, training, or other resources through this initiative, agency POCs shouldemail usor call 202-833-1460. How does this organization measure their results? We are dedicated to ending child sex trafficking and eliminating child sexual abuse from the internet, and we wont stop until every child can simply be a kid. In 2012, we learned that 75% of child sex trafficking victims were being bought and sold online. The rise of the internet has done for child sexual abusers the exact same thing it has done for everyone else - made it easier to share images, and build a community. Thorn's Spotlight tool helps law enforcement more quickly identify sex trafficking victims who are advertised online. That's where Thorn comes in. I started by conducting a competitive and stakeholder analysis to help with the overall discovery of where we were with our current process. One aspect of law enforcement often discussed during an in-briefing or at a recruiting event is the idea that by joining the organization, you are being accepted into that agency's "family.". Leadership Spotlight: Leading Through Tragedy. Sign in or create a new account. "Day to day, we strive to balance hard work with care for ourselves and each other so that we have the resiliency we need to keep fighting," Kelbi writes, "At Thorn, we are invested in a team wellness plan where we carve out time to discuss how were feeling and how were approaching our work. The good news is, this can help investigators track down traffickers. about GuideStar Pro. Top 5 IRS CI Enforcement Priorities. Thorn is a registered 501(c)(3) organizationEIN: 27-0943677, 2023 Thorn. The software, called Spotlight, is now used across all 50 states by more than 4,000 law enforcement officers, according to Thorn's website. Somewhere in that pile of data are children who are bought and sold online for sex. Sign In. Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? And its working. He also noted that Spotlight is reducing investigation times by 60 percent. My background in law enforcement and anti-human trafficking was well suited for the needs of Spotlight when I first joined the team. One of the most significant obstacles is the massive volume of these ads. A virtual team based in the U.S., Thorn employs 25 people. GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader Empowering law enforcement to collaborate beyond jurisdictions or national borders is a key to success in identifying victims who are moved frequently, or are broadcast through peer-to-peer platforms (P2P) on the dark web from a hidden location. Rather, I will be detailing the UX/UI and program management that went behind the design of the on-boarding process, which I led during my time at Thorn. endobj We reached out to her for more information about Spotlight. "Permitted Use" means any use of the Services by an Authorized User for the benefit of Customer solely for supporting his or her law enforcement, social services, academic or other similar professional role, including to detect criminal actions, identify missing/exploited victims, or measure statistical trends surrounding the adult services . Thorn also works to speed the identification of children featured in sexually abusive material. endobj A leading assumption was that users wanted to learn by doing, so we used the outcomes from the New Orleans sting operation as a hands-on case study. Click here to return to Amazon Web Services homepage, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) C5 instances, Identified 18,000 victims, including over 6,000 children. Reports from our users show that, with the help of Spotlight, law enforcement is identifying 9 kids per day on average and those who use Spotlight daily see over 60% in time savings. For more information about the impact of Spotlight, check out the infographic below. Expanded partnerships with law enforcement. <> Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options. 11 0 obj Problems of scale like this cry out for automated processes, but another big obstacle is the fact that escort ad data is anything but consistent: traffickers use code words, slang, and reused content to complicate detection by machines. Armed with this data, we worked with our technology partners and law enforcement to understand how these existing digital footprints could assist law enforcement in faster victim identification. He likes Neo-noir films, running and cycling, classic American novels, small venue music shows, and burritos. Additionally, many new supervisors inevitably will speak with and encourage employees to ensure they take care of their . Help us get you more of the nonprofit information you need, including: An email has been sent to the address you provided. What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, Thorn Helps Law Enforcement Identify Child Sex-Trafficking Victims Faster on AWS. Our team continues to monitor new and emerging trends that will help make sure our tool remains relevant for investigators to do their jobs efficiently and ultimately help the kids we serve. An improved product and UX journey delivers a seamless onboarding and training process for our users and admin staff, Streamlining the onboarding process for law enforcement, Designing a user experience for human trafficking investigators to help them solve cases faster than ever. Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Powered by 3.0 GHz Intel Xeon Scalable processors, Amazon EC2 C5 instances offer a memory-to-vCPU ratio that is ideal for demanding inference applications. x Om7 ' Spotlight is like a investigative partner in human trafficking investigations. The genesis of Spotlight started after we conducted a sex trafficking Survivor Survey in 2012, seeking to learn directly from victims how technology was used throughout their trafficking situation. Most locations in the United States are updated every six hours. Spotlight was designed for law enforcement and prosecutors who investigate human trafficking networks so that victims can be identified and connected to services. from UCLA and an M.B.A. from Northwestern. Thorn has worked tirelessly to improve three areas of child safety, finding abused children faster, deterring predators, and creating hostile online environments. Throughout this process, I worked collaboratively with Media Cause and Digital Reasoning to set timelines and execute. Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center. endobj Our products would not be successful without the partnership we receive from the law enforcement users in every state, at every level of government, and in 37 other countries who use our products, give us feedback, and work tirelessly to identify children. Register. Our tool Spotlight accelerates law enforcements ability to identify victims of child sex trafficking. All Rights Reserved, thorn.org, Hear more from investigators using Spotlight on the front lines, surveyed underage sex trafficking victims. Share it with us and well add it to the database! stream So much so that we launched Spotlight nationwide in October 2014. It is the Google Search for combating human sex trafficking. Learn More Sign in or create an account to view Form(s) 990 for 2020, 2019 and 2018. Thorn builds technology to defend children from sexual abuse. A 2012 Thorn survey of child sex-trafficking survivors found that 75 percent had been sold online, most of them through escort websites. We'll keep it out of your inbox, promise. x nH@ \ Its not uncommon for celebrities to act on a social or political issue theyre passionate about. We can use this tool to gather intelligence and plot trends prior to conducting an operation, during the operation we can allocate resources effectively and tighten our investigative vision to have the greatest immediate impact, and following this operation we can couple Spotlight with information gathered in interviews to develop a more complete picture of the scope of Human Trafficking in our area.. By the end of my first year at Thorn, I had played a role in developing strategic partnerships with FVTC and the DOJ, designing a Spotlight Lab to effectively train potential and new users, and designing a Spotlight product website and a corresponding on-boarding process. After I completed this phase of research, I used the information to iterate on the workshop design, and improve the overall usability of Spotlight. Spotlight's machine-learning models analyze new escort ads in real time and use intelligent image analysis and natural-language processing (NLP) to flag those that match risk profiles developed in cooperation with law enforcement agencies. I agree to the terms of use, privacy policy and agree to receive promotional emails, reminders and updates from Thorn From there the software developed further to better analyze and track data that can lead to building strong cases against traffickers and finding the victims. From what I gathered, Spotlight was by far the most intuitive and robust, providing a better user experience, despite having a ways to go itself. Abused children are identified and removed from harm and their abusers are held accountable. Thanks to Spotlight I have returned victims to their families and put bad guys where they belong. I get results fast allowing me to to gather important evidence and information in minutes compared to hours. These recent survey results confirm our initial hypothesis that Spotlight has indeed been an asset for law enforcement in earlier victim identification, collaboration and productivity. Copyright Human Trafficking Search 2023. Empowering law enforcement to collaborate beyond jurisdictions or national borders is a key to success in identifying victims who are moved frequently, or are broadcast through peer-to-peer platforms (P2P) on the dark web from a hidden location. $120/yr. Leadership Spotlight: Leading with the Pen - The Handwritten Note. my.evidence.com. AWS support for Internet Explorer ends on 07/31/2022. endstream The objective of Spotlight is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of domestic sex trafficking investigations and increase the number of children who are identified and connected with help resources. Use of THOR is periodically audited for compliance with these Rules. Password. Activation of the tech industry helps eliminate abuse content from their platforms. Monthly Yearly One time only. These recent survey results confirm our initial hypothesis that Spotlight has indeed been an asset for law enforcement in earlier victim identification, collaboration and productivity. All rights reserved. <> SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 6/9/2021. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this Web site (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided). Spotlight's machine-learning models are trained and run on Amazon EC2 C5 instances. The organization's co-leader identifies as: Already have a GuideStar Account? This was meant to identify areas in which we could make the tool more intuitive, to minimize obstacles to adoption. I was given the goal of on-boarding 250 users in the next six months. Kutcher elaborate on the software during the hearing, Its a tool that can be used by law enforcement to prioritize their caseload. The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick. On Wednesday, Kutcher testified before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee along with the CEO and President of the organization Human Rights First, Elisa Massimino, to ask the United States Government for help fighting trafficking and sexual exploitation. We believe that technology is a tool, one we can use for incredible good. HTS creates a blog, publishes research, and hosts a global resource database on human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Leadership Spotlight Compassion in Law Enforcement Compassion is characterized by a willingness to purposely assist others on an emotional level and to selflessly put the needs of others before. To find children faster, they have created two online tools, Spotlight and Solis, for law enforcement agencies across the world, for free. The software makes tracking down traffickers easier and faster for law enforcement, which can cut down on the amount of time it takes to find victims. The success of Spotlight would not be possible without the countless hours that investigators spend looking for our kids; the technology partners who influenced and encouraged its development and our donors. There are over 150,000 escort ads posted daily, and Spotlight takes this massive amount of data and turns it into an asset for law enforcement. 2023, Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its affiliates. I get results fast allowing me to to gather important evidence and information in minutes compared to hours., Spotlight is a force multiplier at every stage of the operation. "Abusers had figured out how to use advanced technology to facilitate their exploitation of children," says Sarah Potts, the head of marketing and communications for Thorn, the California-based nonprofit that created Spotlight. xKk@aZp &@z(=6M5h6N0]|V^c DY: $ I~^_az{}n{wN2r0 G$?Df'QK(s[,3o@o Ecw]\Q sIIb4`W*4)zka0Xm?adhga$P0A*+F#JExueU\|%|Q(2TW,+ h[ QFSv`eDShjJ} x|c' $wGdX308@Ng/UTf Thorn was founded in 2012 to build technology to defend children from sexual abuse. You can have your biggest impact in the community where you live thats where you know the most about the environment, the opportunities, the dangers. To build the world we believe in, we know we must: 1) Accelerate Victim Identification 2) Make Digital Environments Safer and 3) Deter Predatory Behavior. The internet has made it easier for children to be bought and sold online. The Transportation Industrys Human Trafficking Prevention Toolkit, The Educators Human Trafficking Awareness & Prevention Toolkit, Hospitality Industry and Human Trafficking Toolkit, Visibly Invisible Sex Workers and Sex Trafficking in the EU, Prison Labor: What Happened in the 5 States That Had The Exception Clause On the Ballot, Illuminating a Nexus: The Interplay Between Disaster Events and Exploitation, Preparing for the Known Unknown: Human Trafficking and Disaster Response, Forced to Scam: Cyber Slavery in South Asia, Avoiding Cascading Effects: Why Suspension of The Davis-Bacon Act May Allow Forced/Exploited Labor. Founded in 2012, Thorn builds technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Supported browsers are Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. The Amazon Rekognition team has been very responsive in helping us address any challenges we encounter.". 2016-2022 National Policing Institute -Privacy Policy-Documents in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader, Spotlight A Tool to Improve Sex Trafficking Investigations, Documents in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader. Spotlight can connect contacts in minutes where it would take me weeks, if not months to do the same thing. Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Help Spotlight PA hold the powerful to account with a gift today. Here are samples of the Spotlight product website: home page, request access page, and request demo page. endobj All rights reserved. Dont see a resource that you know exists? Its a neuralnet, it gets smarter over time, it gets better and it gets more efficient as people use it. Spotlight Data How often is the information in Spotlight refreshed? Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Spotlight is a robust search tool that uses machine learning to help law enforcement identify victims of trafficking online. After the 2015 Atlanta ICAC Conference, we quickly realized that we needed a better on-boarding process that no longer relied solely on Google Sheets to manage requests. This is me at a conference booth, preparing to hold several usability testing sessions with human trafficking investigators. Survivors found that 75 percent had been sold online grow its user base featured in sexually abusive.! Spotlight PA hold the powerful to account with a gift today numbers are date... 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