Criminalized for Surviving: A Call for Social Justice Advocacy in Anti-Trafficking Efforts

With continued unjust criminalization of trafficking survivors, it is critical that individuals involved in the anti-trafficking movement move beyond awareness to intentional advocacy efforts. As a follow-up to Criminalized for Surviving: A Call for Legal Relief for Survivors of Human Trafficking, this article, centers around a primary victim/survivor case study (pseudonym Adira), who is also a coauthor, and provides detailed reflections on the processes, experiences, and lessons learned while advocating for survivors who have been unjustly criminalized. Written from the perspective of survivor/overcomer-leaders who have extensive personal and professional expertise in the anti-trafficking movement, and who are educated as social workers, this article is an invitation to join in critical reflection, consider the systemic causes or rather, adaptive challenges (e.g. sexism, classism, racism, etc.) that fuel human rights violations extending beyond trafficking, and contemplate the potential consequences of even the most well-intended efforts. This is a call for a remembrance of our professional roots, a recommitment to those we are gifted to serve and walk alongside in their life journeys, and a re-awakening of social justice advocacy in anti-trafficking efforts.