Bending the Arc

The Alliance to End Human Trafficking (AEHT) welcomes the enactment of the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act (H.R. 4323), a meaningful step in advancing justice for survivors of human trafficking. This landmark federal law establishes a clear process for survivors to petition to vacate convictions and expunge arrest records for certain offenses committed as a direct result of their exploitation.

For far too long, survivors have borne the lasting consequences of criminal records tied to acts they were coerced into, creating undue barriers to employment, housing, education, and healing. This law affirms an essential truth: these records are scars of exploitation, not indicators of criminal intent, and survivors deserve pathways to rebuild their lives with dignity.

“As this law moves into implementation, we are committed to ensuring it is applied effectively so that survivors can fully access the relief it was intended to provide,” said Katie Boller Gosewisch, Executive Director of AEHT. “It also offers hope that our systems can continue to evolve and support survivors in building stable, self-directed futures.”

AEHT expresses deep gratitude to the bipartisan members of Congress whose leadership made this legislation possible, and to the survivors and advocates whose voices and lived experiences shaped its passage. While this progress does not end human trafficking, it represents important recognition that survivor-centered justice must include not only accountability for traffickers, but also the removal of legal obstacles that hinder recovery.