Leigh Latimer and Abigail Swenstein, attorneys from The Legal Aid Society’s Exploitation Intervention Project, joined WCNY’s Capitol Pressroom podcast to discuss the SMART Act, life-changing legislation that would help survivors of labor and sex trafficking overcome barriers to stability and safety caused by criminal convictions that resulted from their victimization.

“The reason why this legislation is so important” said Latimer, “is that someone can be trafficked into any type of behavior. Traffickers are extremely creative with what they force their clients to do . . . This is not a bill that’s providing a remedy for crime. This is a human rights bill, because human trafficking victims are survivors – not criminals – and that’s what this bill recognizes.”

Listen to the full segment below.