SEPTEMBER 29, 2020- BENIN CITY. Led by our Chief Legal Coordinator, Barrister Dan Uhimwen who coordinates our team of 20 volunteer lawyers, Pathfinders conducted a legal clinic for survivors of sex trafficking, sex slavery and torture. The workshop was necessitated by the reality of many victims of trafficking who are stripped of their legal identity by traffickers upon arrival in destination countries. They are thereafter forced into debt bondage and are often unable to retrieve their legal documentation prior to being deported or repatriated. Others are interested in prosecuting their traffickers but do not understand what can often be the arduous legal process. We also find that often times, survivors of trafficking are subsequently also survivors of rape and/or may have no redress to securing child support.
To address the foregoing, the workshop educated about 50 of our survivors of their legal rights under the law and outlined the process of seeking support for the prosecution of both sex trafficking and rape cases (on the federal and state levels). In addition to being informed of the legal process, survivors were also given the opportunity to provide feedback on their experiences and have their questions answered by members of our legal team.
The legal training was conducted pursuant to our Pathway to Freedom Project which is funded by the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and the United Nations’ Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery. We are grateful for their support in providing assistance to 40+ survivors. THANK YOU!
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