Today is a moment worth celebrating — and reflecting on.
The passage of the Trafficking Survivors Relief Act (TSRA), coupled with the President’s commitment to sign it into law, marks a long-overdue recognition at the federal level: survivors of trafficking should not carry lifelong criminal records for crimes they were compelled to commit as they were being trafficked.
This is meaningful progress. And it has been a long time coming.
For almost a decade, Shared Hope International has worked alongside national partners, lived experience experts, and congressional champions to introduce, reintroduce, and advance TSRA. The bill’s movement is the result of years of coalition-building, survivor leadership, education, and persistence — a reminder that systemic change rarely happens quickly, especially when it challenges deeply entrenched views of who is seen as a “victim” versus an “offender.”
At the same time, it’s important to be honest about what TSRA does and does not do.
While the legislation provides a critical pathway for some survivors to seek relief from federal convictions and raise an affirmative defense, it will not reach all survivors who have been unjustly criminalized. This limitation reflects a reality advocates know well: reform often begins narrowly before expanding over time.
We’ve seen this pattern clearly at the state level. Today, 42 states and D.C. have enacted some form of vacatur for trafficking survivors, yet eligibility varies widely. Many states started with limited offense categories and, over the course of years, expanded relief as lawmakers gained a deeper understanding of trafficking dynamics and survivor experiences. From an advocacy perspective, this incremental approach is common — and often necessary. We will work toward that same evolution at the federal level.
Shared Hope’s leadership in this space is grounded in decades of work and a clear-eyed understanding of victim–offender intersectionality (VOI) — the injustice that occurs when survivors are charged, sometimes alongside their traffickers, without regard for coercion, control, and trauma. Through extensive research and collaboration, Shared Hope has helped shine a light on how survivors are swept into the criminal legal system, including at the federal level, and why reform must account for those realities.
Having walked alongside survivors who were wrongfully criminalized, we know firsthand how devastating criminal records tied to trafficking can be — blocking access to housing, employment, education, and long-term stability. TSRA is not the finish line. But it is a critical step toward a system that stops compounding harm and starts aligning with justice.
Progress deserves recognition. Limitations demand continued advocacy. And survivors deserve nothing less than our sustained commitment to getting this right — at every level of government.
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