To help investigators overcome these and other hurdles, Thorn collaborated with AWS and Digital Reasoning, a company specializing in cognitive-computing solutions, to build Spotlight. Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ. The software, called Spotlight, is now used across all 50 states by more than 4,000 law enforcement officers, according to Thorns website. Officers can set customized alerts and search Spotlights constantly growing database of ads to aid in their investigations. Thorn developed Spotlight, an app that helps law enforcement close trafficking cases much faster than by using traditional manual methods. We believe that every child has the right to be safe, to be curious, to be happy. Dont see a resource that you know exists? endobj "With the flexibility and easy integration of AWS, we can experiment and prototype new products like Spotlight that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive to develop. Thorn was founded in 2012 by Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore to combat online child abuse. 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. When we surveyed underage sex trafficking victims, 3 out of 4 who entered the life in the past decade said they had been advertised online at some point in their trafficking situation. Thorn Helps Law Enforcement Identify Child Sex-Trafficking Victims Faster on AWS Answering the Challenge Using AWS "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. %PDF-1.7 Over the past year, reports show that we are identifying on average 8 kids per dayand that law enforcement who use Spotlight daily see a 65% time savings in their process. 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. How can law enforcement sift through massive amounts of data to focus their time on the most vulnerable victims? Sign up and stay up to date with our daily newsletter. According to our most recent user survey, Spotlight is helping find more child victims of human trafficking, faster. Our tools are currently used by over 8,000 law enforcement officers in 37 countries, resulting in the identification of 10,000+ child sex trafficking victims and 847+ victims of child sexual abuse material. ", Spotlight was made to combat a difficult problem, and the data Spotlight handles is unsettling to say the least. Get free shipping on all Thorne products, connect with health professionals and clients, and read Take 5 Daily to get the latest news in the health and technology industry. Spotlight is a web tool used by law enforcement agencies to more efficiently search the internet for victim and trafficker information. We couldnt recommend it more taking time away from what is hard helps us all sustain our efforts to achieve our goals. For more information about the impact of Spotlight, check out the infographic below. Trafficking in human beings: protect women and children and focus on sexual exploitation, Desperate for Cash, Afghans Toil in Mines That Are Deadlier Than Ever, Forced to Beg: Tanzanias Trafficked Kids. Before presenting the first award of the night, "The Ranch" star Ashton Kutcher walked the red carpet in Dolce & Gabbana. % The internet has become a widely used place for sex traffickers to advertise. The insights we gained - was not only beneficial for the overall product development - but for the workshop design itself (I would continue to observe Spotlight usage at future sting operations, including Operation Cross Country, in which hundreds of juveniles were identified and pimps were arrested). Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics, Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools, Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations, Revenue and expense data for the current fiscal year, CEO, Board Chair, and Board of Directors information, *with the ability to download the data for 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016. I also conducted guerrilla usability testing to learn about the major pain points of the product itself. Thorn is a team of issue experts, business leaders, and engineers who build technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Key results from our multi-channel strategy led to 19x the projected customer acquisition goal from all 50 states, by the end of 2015 (easily surpassing the initial goal of 250 users in six months). Commit to wearing a dress or tie every day in December. That's where Thorn comes in. stream 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. All rights reserved. With the approval of the Thorn CEO, I led the design of a Spotlight product website and managed our vendors, Media Cause and Digital Reasoning - who were in charge of graphic design and engineering development. For this phase of the project, I used the data I already gathered from Spotlight users to create a journey for those seeking to learn more about Spotlight, request a demo, request access, and to log in. 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. GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader Nokia's New G22 Phone Allows You To Repair Broken Parts Yourself; A Knack For Storytelling: Should AI Take Over What Makes Us Human? endobj Activation of the tech industry helps eliminate abuse content from their platforms. Thorn also works to speed the identification of children featured in sexually abusive material. Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? With over 150,000 ads posted online every day, we know that law enforcement doesnt have enough time to navigate the online commercial sex market to find children and identify their traffickers. 2021 Dressember | Dressember is a 501 (C)(3) | design by anne agency + marrow design, Grant Partners, Dressember2018, human trafficking, modern day slavery, child advocacy, buisnesses ending slavery and trafficking, BEST, Danyella Wilder. about GuideStar Pro. Have you recently published a useful resource? 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. Our web-based tool is now used by over 5,000 officers in all 50 states and Canada. <>/ExtGState<>/XObject<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 612 792] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> My background in law enforcement and anti-human trafficking was well suited for the needs of Spotlight when I first joined the team. 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. Matt Damon wants clean water for all, Shailene Woodley was arrested protesting the Dakota Access pipeline, and Ashton Kutcher is the co-founder of a tech company fighting human trafficking and sexual exploitation. We are only one player in a critical ecosystem working on behalf of our children. Streamlining the onboarding process for law enforcement An infographic detailing the reach that Spotlight has gained, since its national roll-out in February 2015. endobj 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. Kelbi Ervin, Development Associate at Thorn, works with a team to develop partnerships and identify funding opportunities to sustain Thorn's work. $25/mo. At Dressember, we release a line of dresses each year, but those products are sold. Telehealth Startup Cerebral To Cut 15% Of Staff, PlayStation's New Game To Feature Shiba Inu As 'Savior' Of 'Humanity', China Aims To Reach 'World-Leading Levels' Of Tech By 2035: CCP. Email or Username. Initially, they had about 100 users from three U.S. states who were using Spotlight for their human-trafficking investigations. GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center. <> Since 2016 alone, Spotlight has helped officers in the United States and Canada open more than 21,000 trafficking cases and identify about 18,000 victims, including more than 6,000 children. 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. According to our most recent survey, it is helping find more human trafficking victims, faster. <> 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. "Fighting human trafficking starts where you live. Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress. 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. 2 0 obj Thank you for supporting the fight to end human trafficking! Expanded partnerships with law enforcement. So when I came on, I got caught up to speed by reviewing that material, along with learning the product inside out by receiving, and then conducting, Spotlight demos and online trainings. This project was supported by Grant No. User research through interviews, personas, and journey mapping of proactive and reactive searches had already been done prior to my start date. Thorn Helps Law Enforcement Identify Child Sex-Trafficking Victims Faster on AWS. Based on IRS CI's FY 2021 Annual Report, here are five top enforcement priorities that are likely to carry over into 2022: 1. The organization collaborates with law enforcement agencies, tech companies, and nonprofits. <> <>/Metadata 508 0 R/ViewerPreferences 509 0 R>> 8 0 obj With just over 20% of users reporting, we are confident these numbers represent the low end of our impact. Use of THOR is periodically audited for compliance with these Rules. We believe that technology is a tool, one we can use for incredible good. Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? I gathered additional information through phone call interviews with customers who were familiar with Spotlight and the other two products to get a sense of what features and design they liked. Nothing makes my job more rewarding when a victim says "thank you" and tells me about her rebuilt life. Registration is open for Dressember 2018 and fundraising has already started! How can people reading this help Thorn fight against child sex trafficking? Spotlight is invaluable as a tool/resource. 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). There is a small group of people abusing our children, and we are a large community standing in strong opposition. Please continue to fund this very important resource; it saves lives. The Law Enforcement Family. Spotlight could never have been so successful without substantial investment and support from AWS, or the underlying technologies that Intel has created.. I cant begin to tell you how appreciative myself and the victim's families are that we have people that support a worthy cause such as this. Spotlight takes this massive amount of data and turns it into an asset for law enforcement. 4 0 obj Spotlight Data How often is the information in Spotlight refreshed? Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants (CIRI) founded in 1918, is a statewide nonprofit human services agency that addresses the need to provide new immigrants and refugees in Connecticut with services to help them become self-sufficient, integrated and contributing members of the community. Education and engagement with the public change risky and abusive behaviors. "It didn't make sense to build our own facial-recognition service when AWS already offers a best-in-breed solution like Amazon Rekognition. Leadership Spotlight: Leading Through Tragedy. This was meant to identify areas in which we could make the tool more intuitive, to minimize obstacles to adoption. 5 0 obj Use of THOR in a manner outside the scope of these Rules is strictly prohibited. We piloted our workshop at the 2015 Atlanta ICAC Conference and received additional feedback on how to improve Spotlight Lab. result in increased adoption of Thorns tools, a reduction in time to stop abuse and an increase in risk for perpetrators. You can view our, Meet the 2019 Skoll Awardees for Social Entrepreneurship. Thanks to Spotlight I have returned victims to their families and put bad guys where they belong. To date, Spotlight has helped officers reduce investigative time by up to 65% and has helped identify 18,119 trafficking victims (including 5,791 children) and 6,553 traffickers. From there, I created an information architecture for the content on the website, put together a website design inspiration board, sketched wireframes by hand and through an online tool - and then wrote the content itself. Our work has three pillars and one guiding vision. "We tested multiple facial-recognition services and found Amazon Rekognition was extremely accurate," says Kristin Boorse, the director of product management for Thorn. SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 6/9/2021. endobj Spotlight marketing collateral, based on what law enforcement needed to know. 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. I agree to the terms of use, privacy policy and agree to receive promotional emails, reminders and updates from Thorn Numbers are to date since the launch of our tool in 2014. Thorn has created a program called Spotlight. Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Learn more about Spotlight. stream COVID-19 fraud schemes have been a top concern for IRS CI and other . Human Trafficking Search (HTS) seeks to raise awareness and help prevent and eliminate human trafficking worldwide. Spotlight does investigative work in minutes that can take hours sometimes to collect. 3 0 obj Thorn is a registered 501(c)(3) organizationEIN: 27-0943677, 2023 Thorn. "When I asked if Spotlight was available to law enforcement in other countries, Kelbi said no, not yet, "But were constantly evaluating the landscape to understand where it can have impact internationally as well.". Help Spotlight PA hold the powerful to account with a gift today. 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. 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. ", In a YouTube video describing Thorns use of technology to fight child pornography and sex trafficking, Thorn Co-founder Ashton Kutcher said, We have to stay on the front cutting edge of that technology, because the criminals, theyre on the front cutting edge., I asked Kelbi what challenges Spotlight faces in keeping at the front of the technological curve. Password. AWS support for Internet Explorer ends on 07/31/2022. Through my competitive analysis, I identified two major competing products, Traffic Jam and Rescue Forensics. Spotlight's machine-learning models are trained and run on Amazon EC2 C5 instances. All Rights Reserved, thorn.org, Hear more from investigators using Spotlight on the front lines, surveyed underage sex trafficking victims. 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. Spotlight helps officers identify child sex-trafficking ads much faster than the old paper-and-pencil methods., Brooke Istook, Director of Strategy and Operations, Thorn. s#fDr$G#;3s/U@q~}NHO. This tool will allow us to conduct faster, more precise investigations that will remove criminals from the street and, most importantly, recover victims. Our tool Spotlight accelerates law enforcements ability to identify victims of child sex trafficking. Thorn was founded in 2012 to build technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Earlier in her career she worked for Motorolas mobile phone division and helped launch HELIO, a mobile virtual network operator. 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. Julie holds a B.A. The internet has made it easier for children to be bought and sold online. endstream Supported browsers are Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. Eventually, I reached out to them, and we agreed to partner and co-teach a Spotlight Lab workshop at major conferences across the Nation to drive awareness and adoption. All rights reserved. A GuideStar Pro report containing the following information is available for this organization: This information is only available for subscribers and in Premium reports. 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. We depend on the anti-trafficking community to keep our resource hub up to date. stream The National Policing Institute, formerly known as the National Police Foundation, is an independent non-profit, non-partisan institution based in Arlington, Virginia that has been dedicated to advancing policing through innovation and science for over half a century, and works to translate those findings to practice through technical assistance, training, and dissemination. Our most recent survey, it is helping find more human trafficking victims to... Identification of children featured in sexually abusive material recent user survey, it helping. Is the information in Spotlight refreshed in the past year more information about the impact of Spotlight, an that... Could never have been a top concern for IRS CI and other conducted guerrilla usability testing to about! Date with our daily newsletter the impact of Spotlight, check out the infographic below trafficking (! 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