What Justice Looks Like for Black Survivors of Human Trafficking
January marks National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a time to honor survivors, illuminate the realities of human trafficking, and deepen understanding of its root causes. Human trafficking involves the use of force, control, or coercion to exploit individuals for labor, services, or sex. While human trafficking affects people across demographics, systemic inequities make Black women and girls particularly vulnerable. These survivors face intersecting challenges rooted in racism, sexism, and systemic oppression, creating significant barriers to justice and healing. At the National Black Women’s Justice Institute, we are committed to raising awareness about the unique experiences of Black women and girl survivors. Our mission to end the criminalization of Black women and girls includes advocating for survivor-centered justice and creating pathways to healing.
Pathways to Victimization
Systemic inequities significantly increase the vulnerability of Black women and girls to human trafficking. Black women make up 40% of sex trafficking survivors—the highest percentage of any racial group. Factors like housing instability, placement instability in foster care, and unaddressed mental or behavioral health concerns disproportionately impact Black communities and leave Black women and girls at higher risk of exploitation. These systemic failures exacerbate vulnerabilities and underscore the urgent need for prevention efforts rooted in addressing these root causes.
Traffickers often exploit the systemic lack of protection for Black survivors, openly admitting that trafficking Black women is perceived to carry less legal risk than trafficking white women. This perception not only highlights the devaluation of Black lives and the risks for Black women, but also underscores the broader systemic failures in holding traffickers accountable. Addressing these inequities requires a holistic approach that protects and uplifts survivors while dismantling the systems that allow these harms to persist.
The Criminal Legal System's Role in Survivor Justice
Black survivors of trafficking face systemic barriers to justice, including being misidentified as perpetrators and criminalized instead of being understood and treated as victims: For example, Black girls are arrested for prostitution-related offenses at rates 4.5 times higher than white youth.
Affirmative defense and “safe harbor” laws are critical in protecting survivors of human trafficking from being criminalized. Affirmative defense laws allow survivors to show that their actions, such as self-defense or engaging in criminalized activities, were directly tied to their victimization. Safe harbor laws recognize youth involved in commercial sexual exploitation as victims, not offenders, aiming to provide support instead of punishment. However, inconsistent application and a lack of understanding of trafficking dynamics—such as grooming and coercion—often leave survivors, particularly Black women and girls, without adequate protection.
Centering healing as justice requires the consistent enforcement of survivor protections, the expansion of survivor justice laws—laws that allow courts to take into consideration a survivor’s experiences with gender-based violence, domestic violence, and abuse—and the adoption of trauma-informed, culturally affirming approaches across the criminal-legal system.
Centering Black Survivor Justice
Black survivors of human trafficking endure trauma that profoundly disrupts their ability to thrive. True healing begins when we treat survivors as survivors, instead of criminalizing them, and meet them with trauma-informed and culturally- and gender-affirming solutions.
Survivors need access to stable housing and mental health care tailored to their unique experiences, supported by survivor-led, community-based programs that empower long-term healing and independence. For example, The Justice for Youth Survivors Initiative is a program co-led by the National Black Women’s Justice Institute and the Center on Gender Justice & Opportunity at Georgetown Law, with input and leadership from Black girls. This initiative aims to transform the legal system by promoting trauma-informed and gender-responsive policies and practices that keep survivors safe and out of the legal system.
Protecting Black women and girls from further harm demands systemic change. Policies must dismantle practices that criminalize survivors, prioritize prevention efforts addressing systemic inequities, and invest in survivor-centered initiatives. Justice requires more than acknowledgment—it requires collective action.
Join us in advocating for Black women and girls survivors of human trafficking. Download our Sex Trafficking of Black Women & Girls Factsheet for more insights, and sign up for our email newsletters to stay informed and get involved.