Written By: Kevin Jackson, staff attorney at KIND’s Atlanta office
On this tenth World Day Against Trafficking in Persons Day, I would like to share some of the insights I have gained working with child victims of trafficking in my role as a staff attorney at Kids in Need of Defense’s (KIND) Atlanta office.
One of the biggest challenges that my child-client survivors of trafficking face is being overlooked by people in positions to help them. Labor trafficking of children very often goes unnoticed, while sex trafficking of children is often minimized as “abuse.” Once someone does notice that a child is being trafficked, frequently, another hurdle is the lack of local resources to help victims given that many foster care and child welfare systems across the United States are overburdened.
When client survivors of trafficking are connected to KIND, those children often need help from our psychosocial services team to arrange counseling and support. As our child-clients settle into their new communities, KIND staff connect children to counselors and help them navigate other issues, such as obtaining a driver’s license, enrolling in school, and understanding and navigating the foster care system.
Along with my colleagues on KIND’s legal team, I help clients navigate an extremely complex immigration system. This often includes applying for T visas, which are visas specifically designated for trafficking victims. We also work to ensure that our clients continue receiving support from state systems that may stop providing vital services to our clients when they turn 18. My goal is always to work in partnership with the psychosocial services team to understand our clients’ needs so we can ensure that they secure the legal protections that will keep them safe.
The legal process is not easy for anyone, much less children who have lived through unthinkable trauma, who must then recount some of the worst events of their life in detail. Survivors of trafficking have many reasons not to trust adults. At first, it can be hard for them to talk about their experiences. It is a difficult balancing act to gather enough details to file a compelling T visa application without retraumatizing our clients. At KIND, we take a trauma-informed, child-centered approach to ensure we protect our clients’ wellbeing.
Between providing legal services and psychosocial services, KIND will continue to do this work to help survivors of trafficking heal and find safety, as well as advance basic child protection principles that can prevent the trafficking of children and other abuse.
Read one of Kevin’s clients’ stories on our blog here.