Post by: Joseph Woltmann
My name is Joseph Woltmann and I am a 3L who is in my fifth and final semester of working with the Center for Global Justice. Throughout my time in the Center, I have been fortunate to work on a variety of projects targeted towards protecting victims of human trafficking, abuse and violence within and outside of the United States.
These projects have fueled my own passion in the fight against human trafficking. More specifically, these projects have highlighted the plight of the victims. Victims face a wealth of issues, including legal, economic, educational, and psychological issues. With regard to legal issues, often times, victims have criminal records due to their trafficking, and as such, they are very much handicapped in their pursuit of a ‘normal’ life after their trafficking experience.
Fortunately, many states have judicial relief for victims in the form of expungement and vacatur, but this this relief does not adequately restore victims to normalcy. This knowledge has fueled my passion, and has led to my writing of articles specifically to benefit victims of human trafficking.
Human trafficking is an epidemic, and what victims face during and after their trafficking is atrocious. Therefore, more awareness of these issues is needed and, more importantly, laws must be changed and created to protect and restore victims of human trafficking.
This post was written by a Center for Global Justice Student Staff Member. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect those of Regent University, Regent Law School, or the Center for Global Justice.