AMARA LEGAL CENTER

We propose to address the need for trauma-informed culturally competent legal services for individuals harmed through their involvement in commercial sex by providing these services: 1. Civil Legal Services, 2. Criminal Legal Services, 3. Case Management, 4. Advocacy, 5. Safety Planning, 6. Awareness and Outreach, 7. Community Education, 8. Professional Training, and 9. Financial or Material Assistance.

The outreach, education, and awareness services will meet the described need by providing professional training to community based organizations and providers on human trafficking and sexual exploitation to ensure providers are able to identify victims and point victims to resources. Amara advocates for policies informed through our clients’ experiences, for example pre-arrest diversion and accessible name change petitions.

Amara engages in victim advocacy to ensure clients understand their rights as victims and engage in the legal system as much as they want and are legally able. Many of our clients want to bring charges against exploiters who stalk them, post nude photos, or commit other crimes against them. Amara attorneys assist clients in filing those charges and navigating the criminal justice process. Amara clients are sometimes subpoenaed to grand jury hearings as victims of human trafficking. Our attorneys ensure clients understand their constitutional and victim rights, the legal and non-legal implications of their testimony, future hearings and trial dates, and the roles of the various individuals involved.

Amara offers name changes because our clients rely on this service for safety planning, and our growing transgender population seek name and gender markers to conform with their gender identity. Similarly, civil protective orders offer clients a modicum of safety from their trafficker, former sex buyer, or a violent partner. Amara offers custody and divorce representation because sometimes our clients’ spouses are their traffickers, and often our clients lose custody of their children during their exploitation and seek reunification or visitation with their children.

Often victims are charged criminally because they are not identified as victims. Amara’s criminal legal services will allow those individuals access to an attorney who understands dynamics of trauma bonding, trafficker manipulation, and returning to prostitution due to trauma.

In addition to these legal needs, our clients have social needs such as medical, mental health, housing, benefits, transportation, and legal services Amara does not provide. Therefore, Amara also provides case management to our clients and work with our partners to ensure our clients are aware of and have access to the full continuum of care.

Since 2014, Amara has been a leader in providing legal services for survivors of sex trafficking and sex workers and advocating for victims’ rights. Amara’s staff have a combination of experience, expertise, and vision that position Amara to effectively achieve the stated desired outcomes. The following outlines critical capacities within the Amara organization and planned expansion to increase service.

Criminal and Civil Court and Advocacy - With substantial court experience, Amara’s attorneys have a track record of success for their clients and are well respected in the community. The bulk of Amara’s legal services are family law, criminal law, and victim advocacy within the criminal justice system. Amara also provides representation in obtaining civil protection orders, name change representation, and post conviction relief. Further, Amara attorneys routinely conduct advocacy on behalf of clients in court, government and within social service agencies.

Training and Awareness - Amara provides ongoing training and technical assistance to partner organizations. Amara has provided nearly 40 trainings to legal and social service providers to help them identify and serve sex trafficking victims. In addition, Amara has held awareness and education events and participated in community engagement activities.

Amara staff members know each client has specific legal and practical needs based on the form or forms of trauma they experienced. It can be extremely overwhelming for a trafficking victim to make sense of the legal proceedings they must follow, or the steps they must take to obtain social services. Our attorneys are adept at helping clients navigate the judicial system and work diligently to connect clients to resources that are vital for trauma victims after leaving their abusers/traffickers. In addition, every Amara staff member has had exposure to working with marginalized populations and people who have experienced trauma. This awareness is part of what leads our staff members to work at Amara.

The trauma-informed care Amara provides while administering legal services is paramount and informs our role as a leader in the victims’ rights advocacy community. Amara’s holistic approach to providing comprehensive direct services for its clients is made possible by close partnerships with local social service organizations to provide a continuum of care. This partner referral network ensures each client’s needs are heard and responded to appropriately, and that services are not duplicated. Clients are able to enter this continuum through any organization and gain access to the range of services they need. Amara ensures that every staff member attends various trainings in order to provide excellent, trauma-informed legal services to every client with whom they interact.

Since its founding in 2013, Amara Legal Center has provided free trauma informed legal services to over 800 clients. In 2020, Amara successfully responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by transitioning all operations to remote/virtual platforms, continuing to provide high-quality legal services to our existing clients and making our services available to new clients. Over the course of the calendar year, staff attorneys served 141 clients with 191 case matters; conducted 24 educational training sessions for community organizations and social service partners; and continued their advocacy and coalition work with policymakers and stakeholders across the DC metropolitan region. Of particular note, Amara produced a DC Vacatur Tool Kit and began raising awareness with DC attorneys about the availability of criminal record relief for trafficking survivors. Amara also made considerable progress advancing vacatur for trafficking survivors in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with legislation expected to be taken up by the General Assembly in 2021.