At FNUSA, we are committed to building a transformative approach to human trafficking, grounded in anti-racism and anti-oppression. In recent years, we have grappled with the impacts of the anti-trafficking movement being so closely tied to law enforcement, as survivors have faced unjust criminalization and marginalized communities have been targeted with state violence. We know that communities that are disproportionately targeted by the criminal legal system are made more vulnerable to trafficking by criminalization. We have learned from criminalized survivors, immigrants, and sex workers who have experienced immense harm from the criminal legal system and often do not see engagement with the system as a path to true justice. We have studied the work of anti-oppression movement builders, anti-carceral organizers, and survivors who have spent over 25 years raising the alarm about the harms of a carceral approach to trafficking, while policymakers and organizations continued to prioritize law enforcement approaches.
Through this work, we recognize there are systemic issues within the criminal legal system that have made it unsafe for many survivors. Victim services have become entangled with law enforcement, creating enormous barriers to access for survivors. Survivors are routinely arrested for acts they are forced to commit by their traffickers or as a result of their trafficking experience, burdening them with criminal charges that follow them for the rest of their lives. Despite efforts to include trauma-informed practices in investigations and prosecutions, survivors are regularly harmed by the criminal legal system.
These intrinsic issues led us to our new position paper: Ending Human Trafficking Demands Divesting from the Carceral Approach. Through a year-long process, we crafted a nuanced position on how the anti-trafficking movement should work with and without the criminal legal system to best serve all survivors. It is long past time for the movement to put survivors’ needs first and to embrace survivors’ ability to choose the best paths to justice for themselves.
Read our new position paper here.
Further reading list
In creating this stance, we learned from many researchers and experts who have taken the time to understand the intricacies of the criminal legal system and its impacts on survivors. We wanted to share those resources so you can also explore some of the intersectional issues we considered.
- Unlocking Potential: the Role of Community-Based Alternatives in Strengthening Public Safety
- Restorative Justice: Principles and Practice
- The New Battle Over an Old Institution: Forced Prison Labor
- Tempering Expectations: A Qualitative Study of Prosecutorial Reform
- Exercising Discretion: A Handbook for Advocates and District Attorneys Navigating the Possibilities and Impacts of Non-Prosecution Policies in the Context of Sex Work Criminalization
- The Prison Penalty: Unemployment, Homelessness and Educational Exclusion Among Formerly Incarcerated People
- Criminalized Survivors: Today’s Abuse To Prison Pipeline For Girls
