Projects, Units & Initiatives

Exploitation Intervention Project

The Exploitation Intervention Project, founded in 2011, is the first effort by a public defender office to address the systemic criminalization of victims of trafficking and gender-based violence. Over the past 15 years, EIP has advocated for thousands of clients, providing direct representation and comprehensive services to Legal Aid’s clients charged with offenses related to sex work and survivors of trafficking and gender-based violence facing prosecution for other offenses in New York City. Our city-wide interdisciplinary team includes five criminal defense attorneys, two social worker/mitigation specialists, a paralegal client advocate, and an immigration attorney.

Carey Builds Her Future

As a young trans woman from a Jamaican immigrant family, Carey’s transition was not supported. At 16, she left home. She struggled to stay in school and had no way to support herself. Someone Carey thought could be trusted said that she would never be able to get a regular job, and teenage Carey believed them. By the time Carey connected with Leigh Latimer, the Director of Legal Aid’s Exploitation Intervention Project, she had been exploited by multiple traffickers and had a lengthy criminal record: prostitution convictions and other offenses that were a result of her trafficking.

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Our Impact

Since its inception, some of the most impactful work the Exploitation Intervention Project has done is through our post-conviction advocacy representing trafficking survivors seeking to vacate criminal convictions pursuant to New York State’s vacatur law, Criminal Procedure Law Section 440.10(1)(i). This law, as expanded by the START Act, allows survivors of trafficking to vacate all criminal convictions directly tied to their trafficking. While survivors face many challenges in rebuilding their lives, the stigma of a criminal record imposed for acts in which they were compelled to engage is particularly burdensome as it impedes survivors’ ability to obtain stable employment and housing and is a constant reminder of their exploitation. EIP is proud to have helped change the lives of 164 trafficking survivors by assisting them in vacating more than 2,500 convictions. See the “Contact” section below for information on who to contact if you think you are eligible to have your record sealed.

Our Work

START Act Advocacy

New law allows trafficking survivors to vacate ALL convictions related to their trafficking

On November 16, 2021, the START Act was signed by Governor Hochul. The START Act expands and improves New York State’s vacatur statute by allowing trafficking survivors to request the dismissal and sealing of any type of criminal conviction that occurred as a result of their trafficking. New York now has the most comprehensive remedy for survivors who were forced by their traffickers to engage in criminal offenses. Labor trafficking survivors, who were previously locked out of criminal record relief because dismissal and sealing were limited to prostitution offenses, will now be able to seek this critical remedy which now allows all trafficking victims to move on without the burden of a criminal record.

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Walking While Trans Ban Advocacy

On February 2, 2021, the New York legislature repealed the loitering for the purposes of prostitution statute, commonly called the “Walking While Trans Ban.” This means loitering for the purposes of prostitution is no longer a criminal offense in New York, and the records of past convictions should have been sealed automatically.

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Jeremy G. Epstein Justice in Action Award

In September of 2024, the Exploitation Intervention Project and its Advisory Board were honored as the recipients of the first-ever Jeremy G. Epstein Justice in Action Award. EIP was celebrated for its groundbreaking and transformative work to combat the criminalization of survivors of trafficking and gender-based violence. The Advisory Board, made up of former clients, has been a vital partner in impacting policy change and supporting survivors. The EIP team celebrated this honor with family, colleagues, and friends who have supported their work for more than ten years.

Contact

The Exploitation Intervention Project works with trafficking survivors to help them vacate convictions related to their trafficking and seal the records of those arrests. If you were convicted of a prostitution-related offense when you were under the age of 18 or have any type of conviction that was the result of force, fraud, or coercion, you may be eligible to have your record sealed.

To find out if you are eligible to have your human-trafficking-related convictions vacated and the records cleared please complete our online intake form or email our team for more information.

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American Bar Association • The Mitigating Impact of Abuse

The Scholar & Feminist Online • Motherhood & Sex Offender Status

Justice Policy Center • The Consequences of Policing Prostitution

AMNY • End NYPD vice squad secrecy

Anti-Trafficking Review • The first open access, peer reviewed journal dedicated to the issue of human trafficking